‘Dancing With The Stars’: Evanna Lynch Pays Tribute To JK Rowling For Helping Her Battle A Disorder

When Evanna Lynch was about 11- or 12-years-old, she was battling a devastating eating disorder that completely took over her life. But she got help, and that help came partly through J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. To honor the famed author, the 27-year-old Irish actress paid a touching tribute to Rowling during Most Memorable Year Night on Dancing With the Stars Monday night.

“Anyone who’s had an eating disorder knows that it completely takes over your life, the only thing that could actually take my attention apart from that was the Harry Potter series,” the actress, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series, said, according to Goldderby.

Consumed by her disorder and the book series, Lynch decided to write to Rowling. And the author wrote back, the actress recalls in the DWTS video shared on Goldderby. The two became pen pals at a time when the girl was in and out of the hospital for treatment. In their correspondence, Lynch described to Rowling how insecure she felt and how the overwhelming feeling was making her sick.

In her responses, Rowling told Lynch about her own insecurities as a young girl and how she injected those experiences into her characters, Lynch said in a 2017 interview with Image magazine.

“Her books and her kindness made me want to live again,” Lynch tells her dance partner Keo Motsepe.

For the TV show’s theme, Lynch picked the year 2006, which is when Lynch was cast to play Luna Lovegood in the series. Lynch and Motsepe danced a Viennese waltz, but to the John Williams song “Hedwig’s Theme,” as the Inquisitr previously pointed out. The magic number earned the pair a 27/30, according to People magazine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ex8xxCCVwo&feature=youtu.be

Being in the Harry Potter series gave a new purpose to Lynch’s life, she said in the video. She fell in love with creating through her acting and that powerful feeling became more important than “being skinny” or “being perfect,” she added in the video.

“Being in Harry Potter changed my life because it proved me that I could do something, that I had something to offer the world,” she said in the DWTS video.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was stunned by Lynch’s growth as a performer in just three weeks of competition, according to Goldderby. Judge Len Goodman described her waltz as “a magic performance” while Bruno Tonioli said that Lynch’s magic “is stronger than ever,” and praised her for her determination and self-assurance.