Evanna Lynch says ‘Harry Potter’ helped her "through an eating disorder".
The 27-year-old actress – who played Luna Lovegood in the wizarding franchise – admits it was tough to deal with her anorexia and has found it "really healing" to talk about it.
She said: "I believe on raising awareness on this issue and it’s very healing for me to talk about this stuff. I wanted to talk about how before ‘Harry Potter’, I was quite sick, and how the Harry Potter books really helped me through an eating disorder. And the reason I wanted to talk about it on here, it’s really healing for me … That is the full story, that’s the only kind of honest way to tell it, and that’s why it was so special because it was the only kind of light that I saw in the world at a very dark time."
And the ‘My Name Is Emily’ star is "grateful" she can tell her story how she wants rather than have it twisted as she doesn’t want it to seem she was "cured" of her anorexia after bagging the role.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, she added: "Those kinds of issues, they are never that neat and sometimes it upsets me the way the story is told. Like, ‘Oh, you get Harry Potter and your mental illness is cured?’ That’s a wrong message to send, an unhealthy message to send, and that’s really not the truth. So I’m really grateful for the opportunity to tell it myself."
Evanna Lynch: Harry Potter helped me through an eating disorder
