Helen McCrory to play Narcissa in HBP

[Carol]

Carol earlier:
> > The role of Narcissa Malfoy has been cast, which must mean that
the crucial "Spinner's End" scene will be included in the HBP film--
maybe even open it as the Frank Bryce scene opened GoF.
> 
zgirnius responded:
> To which my reaction was, YAY!! There were three scenes I really, 
really wanted to see in the movie, and this was the only one I feared
might get written out of the screenplay. 
> 
> My other two faves, the scene of Harry and Dumbledore in the Cave
and the killing of Dumbledore by Snape, I had no fears about. <g>

Carol:
Yes, I rather think we can count on that last one! But what about
Slughorn's party and Harry eavesdropping on Draco and Snape, or
Snape's great fight-and-flight scene as he out-duels and yells
sarcastic advice? They can't omit those scenes in a film about HP and
the Half-Blood Prince! They *might* omit Sectumsempra, but I hope they
don't.

To return to Narcissa, she might also appear in the Madam Malkins
scene, but that's not nearly as crucial to the plot as "Spinner's End."
> 
Carol earlier:
> > So, we have a dark-haired, brown-eyed Narcissa? Or will she wear a
blonde wig with blue contacts? And, forgive me, but McCrory is just
not pretty enough for the role. We're supposed to see a beautiful,
arrogant woman reduced to helpless tears and arousing the chivalric
instincts of the seemingly cold, sarcastic Snape. Will it work? Can
she pull it off? Or has she been miscast?
> 
zgirnius:
> I would guess she will wear a wig, with or without contacts. (Blonde
hair and dark eyes does happen in RL, my own sister is an example).

Carol:
Well, true, and she'll look more like Bellatrix's sister if they have
similar eye color (though I think Bonham-Carter's are darker).

zgirnius:
> I think you may be underestimating McCrory's assets in the looks 
department, as well. I have seen better photos of her than in the 
Leaky article, for example this one of her in the title role of the 
2001 miniseries "Anna Karenina":
> 
>
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/sip44/HBPmovie/HelenMcCrory-AnnaKarenina.jpg
>

Carol responds:
Well, she's cute and maybe a bit flirtatious looking in that
photograph, but Narcissa needs to be all pale and blonde with blue
eyes brimming with tears (canonically falling on snape's chest, as
Neri used to remind us on the main list) to fit my picture of her in
"Spinner's End." Someone mentioned that she thought of Bellatrix as
being beautiful but didn't have the same impression of Narcissa. That
wasn't my view at all; Bellatrix used to be as regal as a queen, with
shining hair and those heavy-lidded eyes, but she lost most of her
beauty in Azkaban. Narcissa, who is younger and has never been to
Azkaban would still retain hers, I think. She can't be more than
forty-two or so in that scene; the Black family tree (which I don't
fully trust considering that it contains thirteen-year-old fathers)
gives her birth year as 1955. Even Harry acknowledges that she's good
looking, or would be if it weren't for her sneer, when he sees her for
the first time in GoF, and my impression of her in "Spinner's End" is
as the classic damsel in distress using her beauty as a tool to
persuade the powerful knight (Snape) to help her. I always thought of
her as inheriting the good looks of the Black family (good bone
structure, good skin, good hair) but blonde rather than dark. Anyway,
I suppose it's her acting skills that matter, but she's not at all the
sort of actress I envisioned. (Then again, neither was Helena
Bonham-Carter for Bellatrix.)

BTW, I found additional photos of her at a fansite:

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/amfr4/personal/helenpics-portraits.html

She's only about thirty-nine but looks older in some of the photos.
But it's going to be a great scene, regardless.

Carol, who can't wait for the trailer to get a glimpse of Spinner's
End and those rings of fire