The Stunning Transformation Of Bonnie Wright

Actor Bonnie Wright will forever be remembered for her charming portrayal of Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movie series, a role she landed when she was just nine years old. From the release of Sorcerer's Stone in 2001, to 2011's Deathly Hallows — Part 2, the British actor spent a decade of her life growing up on the big screen. Like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, Wright was one of few actors to appear in all eight Harry Potter movies in the series.

But she's not the same little redheaded sister watching her brothers head off to Hogwarts anymore. In 2011, Interview claimed the youngest Weasley's "transformation ... rivals only Emma Watson's as the most surprising," dubbing her an "eloquent young woman whose career is sure to last long beyond the Potter franchise." While Wright has expanded her repertoire beyond Ginny Weasley, she holds only good feelings towards the series that launched her into stardom, frequently attending fan conventions representing her character. "It's always super fun to see young children who can't see beyond the character," she told ReviewSTL.com in 2018. "It's nice that the sort of magic of the character is still alive, and there isn't an actor. To them you are the character, and I find that quite fun."

Now she's an experienced actor and director, but we'd be remiss to gloss over her adorable start. This is the stunning transformation of Bonnie Wright.

After Bonnie Wright scored an audition for Ginny Weasley, she told the Evening Standard in 2011 she quickly read the first Harry Potter book and fell in love, but after a "kind of strange" audition for David Heyman, she didn't want to get her hopes up. Though Wright had little acting experience outside of school performances, her parents eventually received word that Wright had scored the role. "They were just silent for ages, as if they were about to announce they were getting a divorce," she recalled to the Evening Standard. "When they finally told me, I remember screaming out of the window all the way up the motorway. I was ecstatic."

Wright only had one scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, meaning she only had to spend "three or four days" on set. Because her family lived in London, Wright was always "able to go home to [her] own bed and see [her] friends at the weekend," but her family did not quite foresee the scope of the blockbuster franchise. "I think if my parents had realized how big it would end up, they'd have worried about how I was going to balance filming with family life and school," she admitted to the Standard.

After her first Harry Potter films, Bonnie Wright began to expand her résumé outside of the wizarding world. She played a young version of Sarah Robinson in Hallmark's 2004 television film Stranded, a more adult take on Swiss Family Robinson. Variety noted that the young cast's performances displayed "a maturity of skill beyond that of the average TV teen." Her next big role was as a young Agatha Christie in 2004's Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures. She appeared in the third Harry Potter film that same year, and while she had fallen in love with the entertainment industry, she was also quickly learning how to appreciate being a normal teen during her off-time. "You've got to realize that so much of your life is also just being the same as anyone else," she told Marie Claire in 2011. "You've got to be driven to have that balance rather than getting lost in the work world."

Being in-front of the camera wasn't the only thing Wright was interested in either. In 2007, she explained to Hampshire Chronicle that growing up on a set provided a unique kind of firsthand education. "When you're on set, I find it interesting to talk to different people, the camera department, ask, 'Oh what's that,' or 'What does that do,' and they're all really open about talking to you," she told the outlet. Only makes sense considering she's a Gryffindor!

If Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the start to Bonnie Wright's fire, 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a full-on explosion. Variety wrote that her portrayal of Ginny "intrigues as the sort of initial plain Jane who keeps growing on you." The sixth film also found the tension between Wright's character and Harry Potter escalating to a long overdue moment that was very important to the series: their first kiss. "I do remember like friends reading [the book] or like being further ahead in that moment and being like, 'Oh my god have you got to page 362?' or whatever page it was," Wright recalled to Insider. "And then obviously they got to the moment where [Harry and Ginny] kissed so I was like, 'Oh.'"

It was a pivotal moment and Wright certainly felt the pressure going into it. "There's such a huge following to the books so there's also that expectation or kind of that excitement towards this moment and it's all about getting it right," Wright explained to Insider. "You have to do these very intimate scenes in quite a functional environment," she said, adding that it was "strange" kissing Daniel Radcliffe as he had become "kind of like a brother."

In 2012, Bonnie Wright graduated with a degree in filmmaking from London College of Communications at the University of Arts London. "I always wanted to go to art school and it's one of the big art schools of London, so that was a dream completed," she told Interview in 2011 ahead of her graduation. Although her degree solidified the deal, Wright had really spent her entire acting career getting a masterclass in direction. "Ten years of being on a film set was the beginning of my education in directing," she explained to fans at Dallas Comic Con in 2015. "I did go to film school but it was probably the best film school, as well."

Her biggest takeaway from the Harry Potter directors? "That language you have between a director and actor," she told fans. "You're wanting your actor to embody the role that the writer has done and you want them to have their creative freedom yet you also want your vision to come alive as you see it." Her skills were put to the test with her debut short film Separate We Come, Separate We Go when she directed Potter co-star David Thewlis, who played Remus Lupin. Although Wright was "really nervous to direct him," the short was a hit, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

In 2018, Bonnie Wright directed Sophie Lowe's "Taught You How to Feel" music video, as well as a visual for Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson's single "Iguana Bird." She told Paper that the latter video was inspired by "that feeling when you're fresh out of a break up and you force yourself out of the house ... as a way to numb the heartache." Creating that vulnerable moment goes with Wright's mission statement as a director, which is "to make films which make the most fleeting moments and intimately felt emotions universal rather than lonely."

For the actor-turned-director, the best part has to be the creative control. "Being able to produce my own work has given me the freedom to express and process my ideas and feelings," she told Paper. "I love directing because I get to part of every element of filmmaking and I have been fortunate to collaborate with such a wide variety of my contemporaries from London to Los Angeles." As of this writing, she is preparing her first feature-length movie Unearthed, an "action kind of horror" film with environmentalist themes, according to Insider.