Bonnie Wright returned to Hogwarts for Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking — but don’t expect her to do the same in HBO’s upcoming remake.
“I think that would be confusing if we did, to be honest,” the Ginny Weasley actress, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly when asked if she wanted to join the new cast or make a cameo appearance. “I mean, if they did maybe another story, but I think to be back at the same time as Ginny that would be — we might have some meta moments there, you know?”
Still, Wright — who played Ginny Weasley in all eight films — will be cheering on the new cast from the sidelines. “All of us only looked after those roles for 10 years of our lives, and I’m excited for what’s next for that character,” shared with Us while at the New York City Back to Hogwarts event. “There’s a million ways to interpret all the characters. So I’m excited.”
Wright also hopes that Ginny might get a few more scenes in the new adaptation, which intends to dedicate an eight-episode season to each of the seven Harry Potter books. “I also hope that more of the books can be in the films,” Wright said. “There’s so much for so many characters that couldn’t be in the story ’cause films can only be so long. So I’m hoping that [the TV show] can be more detailed, and I’m just excited for those people to have fun with those roles.”
The original films continue to inspire fans in all kinds of ways — even via delicious recipes. Wizards of Baking is a Food Network competition series featuring nine teams of pastry chefs and cake artists who compete in various baking tasks. Wright joins the first season as a guest judge for the penultimate episode on Thursday, December 12.
A new Harry Potter TV series is officially in the works. During the Warner Bros. Discovery presentation in April 2023, the network revealed they were moving forward with a TV reboot of J.K. Rowling’s iconic novels for their streaming service, Max, with a the “decade-long series” that will feature a whole new cast. Rowling, who […]
“I feel like it’s very creative. These contestants, who are professional people, have these incredible, elaborate designs that they bake and come to life and it’s just a real celebration of the world of Harry Potter,” she told Us.
Competitors must bake confections that taste delicious and offer enchanting elements fit for a Hogwarts feast. The six-episode season, hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (who played Fred and George Weasley), was filmed over the summer at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, which still houses some of the original Potter sets. The episodes take place on the sets of Platform 9 3/4, Gringotts, Diagon Alley and more. The winning team will take home the Wizards of Baking Cup and will have the opportunity to appear in a new Harry Potter cookbook.
Chefs Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef judge the series along with several guests from the films, including Wright, Warwick Davis (who played Professor Flitwick) and Evanna Lynch (who portrayed Luna Lovegood).
“It’s [hosted by] my lovely brothers, James and Oliver Phelps,” Wright told Us. “They do such a brilliant job of presenting a show and really like just taking us back to the magic of the series. And we filmed on the actual sets, which I think people are gonna love because to return to them and see them in more detail is so cool.”
Harry Potter fans watched Ginny Weasley say “good luck” to The Boy Who Lived as he headed off to Hogwarts nearly 23 years ago in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone — and actress Bonnie Wright can’t wait to watch the scene with her own son. “I hope he actually likes it! I mean, I […]
She continued: “It was fun. I love to cook and I love to eat sweet things. I got to judge and eat food and be back on the sets and be back with my friends. I’m really looking forward to it coming out.”
The England native first got a taste of baking competitions in 2016 when she competed on a celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off, which she says made her realize how hard the bakers work.
“I was on the other side; I was actually baking,” she noted. “It prepared me for understanding how nerve wracking it is. Having all those cameras on you while you’re doing high-stress work is a lot. I only filmed for two days and I was tired. These people who stay on a whole season of a baking show, it’s a lot of physical work.”
Wright judged the fifth episode of Wizards of Baking, filmed on the set of Dumbledore’s Office, where the four-tier showstoppers must appear to be transforming from one thing to another.
While her own at-home bakes aren’t quite as intricate, Wright loves to be in the kitchen. She often cooks at home for 1-year-old son Elio, whom she shares with husband Andrew Lococo.
“I like to bake or cook lots of things. Obviously, now I have my son to cook for and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I mean, I live in California, so we have amazing vegetables and fruit all the time,” Wright explained. “When it comes to cakes — and I love cookies and muffins and loaves — I always like to heavily flavor my stuff, like spice it, fruit it. I like making my own jams. I try and stick on the healthier side of the spectrum. Less sugar, alternative sugars … you can get everything at the grocery store when it comes to more fun flavors, healthier things. So I try and do that, especially with my son.”
While the Harry Potter films are on many people’s holiday watchlists, are they considered a part of the Christmas movie genre? “I’ve seen this debate online. Is Harry Potter a Christmas movie? That is one for the philosophers,” Emma Watson’s younger brother, Alex Watson, shared in an interview with Today.com published on Wednesday, December 11. […]
She is happy that Elio isn’t too harsh as a judge of her own food. “He hasn’t learned, I think, that you can be picky,” she said with a laugh.
Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking airs on Food Network and Max Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
