Bonnie Wright discusses how she remains confident

In a thoughtful article for the January 2015 issue of Elle UKBonnie Wright talks confidence issues and how she overcomes them. The piece, entitled “How to Act Confident,” discusses how Bonnie has learned to retain her self-confidence, beginning from her time as a child on the Harry Potter set, to her current struggles in an industry that constantly causes self-doubt.

In her early days as a child actress in Harry Potter, Bonnie says she had no problem feeling confident:

I entered the world of filmmaking [at] age nine, with little to no clue of what I was doing. But on the Harry Potter set, where I played Ginny Weasley, I was so enthusiastic that my confidence was unshakeable.

But as she got into the difficult years of adolescence, Bonnie’s self-esteem was challenged. No longer feeling completely confident, she started “acting it” by observing and learning from the successful people around her.

Being surrounded by talented people – the kind [who] change the energy of a room when they enter it – inspired me. Their presence and intensity was the perfect template for self-assurance, and by watching them I saw that if I wanted to be taken seriously by others, I must first begin to take myself seriously and find the tools that would build my confidence.

Bonnie goes on to discuss her struggles with breathing deeply, which has been a challenge for her in acting classes. She finally found that this was rooted in her self-assurance issues. Meditation helped her overcome this by providing “a pillar to root myself to no matter what life throws at me.”

Ultimately, despite the unpredictability of life, she has found that confidence can be achieved by simply acting confident.

Life is a cycle: confidence gives peace of mind, peace of mind brings confidence. I don’t believe we are ever fully confident; that’s not a state of being everyone reaches – but faking it is, I’ve found, just as good as feeling it because the net effect is the same.

You can read the full article below.

BonnieWright_Confident_ElleUK

What do you think of Bonnie’s comments? How do you overcome struggles with self-confidence?

Catherine Lai

I have been a fan of Harry since 2000, a fan of MuggleNet since 2005, and a MuggleNet team member since 2013. I believe in the power of stories to bring people together, and nothing does that quite like Harry Potter. I live in Toronto, Canada.