Zoë Wanamaker talks “Potter”, technology, and invisibility cloaks in new interview

The Guardian has published a new interview with Zoë Wanamaker, who portrayed Hogwarts Quidditch instructor Madam Hooch in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 

In the interview, Wanamaker confesses that she is “a bit baffled by technology” and relies on her friend Elizabeth in America for tech support.

With technology as a talking point, Wanamaker was asked what the most technologically advanced project she had worked on was. She replied,

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I played a Hogwarts teacher called Rolanda Hooch. We did the Quidditch sequences with me sitting on a bicycle seat with a broomstick on the front and this machine making it go up and down. It was programmed to do certain moves, but the computer broke down, so we’d get off and go to have lunch. Then we’d get back on again until the computer broke again. Repeat this process a few more times, and that was my day of flying through the air. But that was the first Harry Potter film. I’m sure by the last one, flying scenes were done in a much smoother way.

Still on the subject of Potter, she was asked which gadget from the series she wants to see recreated in the Muggle world. Her answer:

The ability to fly would be fabulous. And I’d like an invisibility cloak as well, so I could spy on people.

As we previously reported, Zoë Wanamaker can be seen next in the third season of the period drama Mr. Selfridge.

Which item from the Harry Potter series do you want to see invented? Tell us your picks in the comments!