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“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the latest installment in the Potter film franchise, is set to hit theaters this July 17 - and the flick is more Irish than you might think.
Not only is Irish actress Evanna Lynch starring in the movie as the eccentric Luna Lovegood, but Irish actor Devon Murray will return as Seamus Finnigan, a.k.a. “O’Flaherty,” another student at Hogwarts who’s known for having his spells blow up in his face – literally.
Murray’s character has been featured every Potter film to date, and has launched the young Irish actor, 20, into superstardom.
The County Kildare native studied at Ireland’s Billie Barry stage school, and later the National Performing Arts stage school.
Murray became a player in the Hollywood scene through his role in the 1998 Irish drama “This is my Father.”
His next notable roles were in “Angela’s Ashes,” in which he played Malachy McCourt, closely followed by his appearance in “Yesterday’s Children.”
But it wasn’t until Murray nabbed the role of Seamus Finnigan in the hugely successful “Harry Potter” series that the Irish actor’s career really took off.
Still, the Potter star (and accomplished horse rider) told Ireland’s Evening Herald that the public doesn’t go too crazy for him in his home country.
“I don't really get recognized here [in Ireland] that much and Irish people are so down-to-earth anyway, they would leave you alone even if they did know you.
“It's more when I go to America that they go mad for anyone connected with the movie. It was also crazy when we did a promotional tour in Japan, I must have shook hands with about two million people during that trip alone, it was mental,” he said.
But Murray is high-profile enough in Ireland that his copy of the “Half-Blood Prince” script was under threat of being stolen, and had to be moved from his Kildare home to a safe house for protection.
He told the press there were several robbery attempts at his family home, so the film’s head honchos had to take action to ensure secrecy.
"It just wasn't safe to keep it there, as there was so much hype surrounding the new storylines, so they now use a safe house for the script," he said.
But one secret Murray is spilling? How cool his co-star Daniel Radcliffe a.k.a. Harry Potter is.
“He's totally wired," Murray says. “He's a great man to go for a night out with as he loves partying and is up for anything.”
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