Imelda Staunton had fun torturing Harry Potter
Dolores Umbridge to me is probably the most disturbing character in all the Harry Potter novels right after Voldemort; she’s straight out of a Stephen King novel, don’t you think? Here’s an interesting interview with the actress who played her, Imelda Staunton:
When the respected stage actress Imelda Staunton was invited to join the cast of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts’ latest sadistic Defence of the Dark Arts teacher, she did not know whether to be flattered or offended.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hard-edged: Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix“In the book, she is said to be very ugly and toad-like, so when people would tell me, ‘You’d be great in the part,’ I’d say: ‘Well, thanks very much,’ ” she laughs. “But the role is a gem and it is heaven to be a part of this world - not to mention I have a much higher status with my 12-year-old at home now.”
Her Dolores Umbridge is a pink-wearing control freak who, with a sing-song voice and honeyed smile, terrifies the students and staff at Hogwarts as she carries out her mission as Inquisitor for the Ministry of Magic.
She wears plenty of padding to portray the tubby Umbridge, and she worked closely with the costume designers to craft her look.
“We had a lot of fun creating this sort of little round person, who’s not very nice,” she says. “I didn’t want her to have any hard edges. I thought it was important for her to appear soft and warm because, of course, she is neither.” One of the film’s creepiest scenes involves her torturing Harry, whom she forces to write lines which appear etched in blood on the back of his hand.
“She was really was great fun to play,” said Staunton, talking at Claridge’s during her promotional rounds for the film. “I loved doing it and I love talking about it.”
It may be unusual for an Oscar-nominated, Olivier Award-winning actress to make such a memorable exit from a film as Staunton, who is last seen being carried off by a horde of angry centaurs, but she enjoyed every second of it.
“I was so excited,” she says. “It was very hard not to laugh all the time because it was such fun.”
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2 opinions for Imelda Staunton had fun torturing Harry Potter
Pansy Parkinson
Jul 5, 2007 at 22:54
i BBELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEAT, THAT uMBRIDGE IS FOUL !@#$%^&*()#$#$$%^%#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shark
Jul 9, 2007 at 08:50
Does p. parkinson mean she hates umbridge with all her heart, or is she some kind of fireball who hates umbridge with all her heat, as her comment seems to imply
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