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The role of Narcissa Malfoy has officially been cast for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – and it’s the very accomplished actress Helen McCrory, below.
She was originally slated to play the part of Bellatrix Lestrange, but she couldn’t because she was expecting a baby. Don’t they look totally like sisters? Here’s a pic of Bellatrix to compare:
Hmmm. Uh, yikes? Anyway, here’s more about Helen:
The award-winning actress Helen McCorory trained at the Drama Centre, London. She began her career on stage in the UK. She won the Manchester Evening News Best Actress Award for her performance in the National Theatre’s “Blood Wedding” and the Ian Charleson award for classical acting for playing Rose Trelawney in ‘Trelawney of The Wells’. Helen’s theatre work has continued to win her critical praise and a large fan base through such work as the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Les Enfant du Paradis” opposite Joseph Fiennes, Rupert Graves and James Purefoy. At the Almeida theatre her productions have included “The Triumph of Love” opposite Chewital Bjiofor and the radical verse production “Five Gold Rings” opposite Damian Lewis.
Helen has also worked extensively at the Donmar Warehouse playing lead roles in “How I Learnt to Drive”, “Old Times” directed by Roger Michel, and in Sam Mendes’ farewell double bill of “Twelfth Night” and “Uncle Vanya” (a triumph in both London and New York). For her performance in “Twelfth Night”, Helen was nominated for the Evening Standard Best Actress Award, and the New York Drama Desk Awards.
Helen also found time to found the production company ‘The Public’ with Michael Sheen, producing new work at the Liverpool Everyman, The Ambassadors and the Donmar (in which she also starred).
With over twenty productions under her belt, Michael Coveny recently wrote ‘We celebrate the careers of great actors Olivier, Ashcroft, Richardson, Gielgud, Dench, the Redgraves, Gambon, Walter, Sher, Russell Beale and McCrory’.
On the small screen Helen’s first television film, Karl Francis’ “Street life” with Rhys Ifans, won her the Welsh BAFTA, Monte Carlo Best Actress Award and the Royal Television society Best Actress Award, for her extraordinary performance as Jo. The Edinburgh Film Festival wrote ’simply the best performance this year’.
She went on to win Critics Circle Best Actress Award for her role as the barrister Rose in the Channel 4 series “North Square”, having been previously nominated for her performance in “Fragile Heart”. Helen has shown her diversity as an actress, appearing in comedies such as “Lucky Jim” with Stephen Tompkinson or “Dead Gorgeous” with Fay Ripley as well as dramas such as Joe Wright’s “Charles II”, (for which she was nominated for the LA Television Awards), “Anna Karenina”.
via IMDB
I like her , she seems perfect for the role , look wise and reading your article, I think she is a wise choice.
did ms rowling ever specifically say narcissa was blonde or was that just a mass assumption?
[...] Potter is churning on – check out who was cast as Narcissa Malfoy for the next [...]
@Aurey – I could’ve SWORN that Narcissa was blond; at least, that’s how I always pictured her. Wasn’t there something in Deathly Hallows about that?
She is blonde. I really hope that they don’t keep her brunette because Andromeda, Bella and Narcissa aren’t supposed to look alike.
I thought she was. Well it isn’t hard to make her blonde via a wig or dye or whatever, and i hope they do. great that she’s an awesome acress and all that too!
hmmm me not happy! I imagined someone a lot more sopisticated and angelic looking. I imagined her and Bellatrix to look very different anyway!
Helen looks very earthy to me, that doesn’t work for me. But I just hope she is a really good actress and pulls it off…. I am looking forward to being surprised by her.
[...] to the Half-Blood Prince, which proves invaluable to the young wizard. Award-winning actress Helen McCrory (Becoming Jane, The Queen) will play Narcissa Malfoy, mother to Draco Malfoy and sister to the evil [...]
who ever she is she better do justis to the material I meen if she sucks I HIGHLY reccomend narcissa from the band the black sisters (Google wizerd rock)
narcissa malfoy is supposed to be tall, thin and blonde, very unlike bellatrix.
do the casting people read the books?
I don’t get it. I don’t think they do read the books! OMG i thought Naomi Watts would have been great. but hey…… Nicole Kidman could have done a good job as well. Isn’t Narcissa supposed to be really snotty looking? I hope Helen pulls it off. Has anyone noticed that Narcissa is played by Helen and Bellatrix is played by Helena? Just thought i’d point that out.
Oh wow… I know they’re sisters, but I always pictured Bellatrix completely out of her mind creepy (which she very much was in the last film) and Narcissa always looking… almost nice, for the amount she cared for her son at least, she has to have some heart, where as Bellatrix… meh, not so much…
SHE MUST BE BLONDE… With the kind of hair Draco has he couldn’t be the offspring of anything but two blonde parents…
Hmmm, I guess we’ll wait to see if they make her blonde hair brown like they made Dudley’s black… hahahaha
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOG IIIIII Hhhhhrrrvaaati
Meghan,
Yeah it said in the books something like “Bellatrix was as dark as her sister was fair”. with emphasis on the word fair as in tall pointy featured. does that make sense? oh well. bella was cast well at least. as was Lucius, if they screw up narcissa……
i hope they dye her hair blond or something, coz Cissy doesn’t have black hair!
Urggh! I’m sooo pissed! I hate to say it, but she’s too ugly for Narcissa! Besides the fact that she’s out and out brunette – she doesn’t even have blue eyes! What makes Narcissa’s looks more important than, say, Lavender’s, or even Bellatrix, is that Narcissa is supposed to give the vibe of that snotty ice queen. Her blonde hair and cold blue eyes are *part of her character*. Geez, it would have been better if they’d left Helena for Cissy – at leas she’s prettier – but then Helena’s prodigious talent wouldn’t be tapped.
Grr. Why couldn’t they have picked Naomi Watts or Nicole Kidman? Or geez, *anyone* but Helen McCrory?! I mean, it sucks that getting pregnant screwed her chances of playing Bella, but it doesn’t mean that she’s got to screw up the movie for millions of fans worldwide!
Then, at least McCrory is really talented. If she – and the HP makeup crew – can managed to transform her into the cold, blonde, beautiful ice queen Narcissa Malfoy, then I can’t wait
Hermione
Nicole would have been perfect (but the golden compass was a shambles…..Richards did pretty well for a kid though.) I think she just needs to be a feminine version of Lucius. does anyone know how Lucius is pronounced? Is it LuSIus or LuSHus? i am SO CONFUSED!
I agree with Hermione Weasely that she’s is way to ugly to play Narcissa because Narcissa is suppose to have like a pale blonde hair, and be elegant and refined like crystal. She suppose too look nothing like her sisters and be snooty, rich, icy cold, and gorgeous. Helen is just way to dark colored to paly Narcissa, because Narcissa is just suppose to be beautiful and only caring about how she looks. ( And I think you are suposse to pronounce Lucius “Lucy-us” , but I don’t know that’s just how I say it)
1) in response 2 ‘is she blonde?’, i think spinners end described her long pale hair streaming down her back, n later described bellatrix being as dark as narcissa was fair. i dont have d book at d moment, so cant confirm though.
2) i have faith in the HP makeup crew. they can work magic. (well, most of the time. i STILL havent forgiven them for changing lucius’s hairstyle and giving snape loreal hair..)
3) naomi watts n nichole kidman have too much of a young, modern feel. i agree tt narcissa is ALL ABOUT beauty, but its an old, aristocratic beauty, which i imagine to have a slightly tired, slightly detached, slightly jaded feel to it.
YES haughty, but also trapped and somewhat resigned (no matter who she is as a person, cissa can only ever express the persona that is espected of Narcissa Malfoy, Daughter of the House of Black, Wife to Lucius Malfoy, and Mother to the heir to the Malfoy estate.) McCrory looks like she can pull the feel off.
Ok I really don’t understand their reasoning behind casting this woman, because when I think of Narcissa, this woman is the complete opposite. I guess their going for talent rather than looks
Ok I really don’t understand their reasoning behind casting this woman, because when I think of Narcissa, this woman is the complete opposite. I guess they’re going for talent rather than looks
I personally think you all who are complaining are judging to harshly you need to give her a chance and to say she is not pretty or doesnt have blonde hair is rediculus she is beautiful and they have such a thing as wigs and makeup. Jason Isaacs is just as dark haired as this woman- HIS New wife!!!
she is extremely scary,but she’s perfectly fit for her role
I guess the majority of you are not true harry potter fans or movie fans- if you were you would realize that Narcissa is Blonde with blue eyes and that she has to look haughty which believe me this woman can be- second do you know why every movie has something really fascinating called the makeup department and in movie like these they do wonders. so quit the carping and wait just dont dismiss someone cause they are not what YOU want talk about selfish. sadly what you want does not make the world go round, might as well figure it out sooner or later. Beside this is alittle old we do it to all new cast members- grow up people just love them all like me they do a good job. P.S. Her husband – Jason Isaccs , not real Im talking the guy who plays Lucius has just as dark of hair and everyone loves him so what is this a sexist thing?
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
She doesn’t fit to be as a wife of Lucius Malfoy. The role casts for Lucius and Draco fit perfectly together. She doesn’t have blonde hair or blonde hair that will match her. I think she’s rather to old to be elegant, sexy and desirable. I hoped that it would be Nicole Kidman or Joely Richardson, they have the defind looks OR KIM MARSHALLS, EMINEM’S WIFE-KIDDING! (though she is pretty besides the drug-addiction) No offense, she’s a great actor but won’t fit. I would prefer Helena as Bellatix than her. They’re suppose to be different even if she did had the baby…
I will just ruin it but who knows what will happen then when the movie is the cinemas.
WHAT WERE THE DIRRECTORS THINKING!!! listen to JK Rowling!!! ARGHHHH
I guess, the casting directors are getting lazy. How could they make such a mistake? I’m not happy with Helen McCrory playing Narcissa and I’m not alone, many other people are really dissappointed,too. She looks way too dark, old and chubby to be the blonde, elegant, thin Ice Queen.
We should write a letter to the casting directors!^^
what happened? casting was usually ok, but they have completely screwed up narcissa! i’ve seen pics of her and her hair, and its half blond and half brown on top! (almost like a fake dishwasher blond) i know mccroy is a good actress and all, but narcissa??? i first heard naomi watts was going to do her, and that wud have been good. ughhhhh!!! maybe they shud hav made helena bonham carter as narcissa and mccroy bellatrix…