Time Magazine has a new article discussing the villains of this summer's movies. Dolores Umbridge is, of course, one of those listed, with the following being said:

"As Dolores Umbridge, the bureaucrat from the Ministry of Magic in this summer's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Imelda Staunton is a little bit priestess, a little bit villainous. Staunton, the latest in a line of top British thespians to visit Hogwarts, found it a tough balancing act: 'The character has to be ridiculous and yet real and frightening. She has to be silly and yet not cartoony. It's difficult to gauge.' The performance and the couture established an ostensibly soft side to Dolores. 'She wears cardigans and pinks. She threatens, but if you don't listen to the words it's just a pleasant sound. She's gentle and pleasing. If she seemed hard, there would be no surprises.'"

Newsweek has posted a brief new interview with the Professor Umbridge actress:

A year before Staunton got the part, a friend suggested she would be perfect for it. "I read the book, and Umbridge is described as a short, ugly, toadlike woman," Staunton says. "I thought, 'Oh, thanks very much'." Staunton plays her as an apple-cheeked schoolmarm-drenched in pink angora-who is restricting freedoms (and free thought) to "protect" the students. "There can't be any mess or any individuality," Staunton says. "But, of course, that leads to brainwashed people."

Read the entire article here. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip!

Imelda Staunton (Umbridge) spoke recently about her experience playing the former High Inquisitor:

"Dolores is a vision in pink taffeta but a nasty piece of work. At first I thought, 'Ooh, a Harry Potter, that'll be fun'. But at the film's heart is real tragedy, and I found myself having four months of intense acting, followed by occasional wand-waving for the next six."

Empire magazine's latest edition included a three-page spread on the Order of the Phoenix movie, where director David Yates spoke about the length of the film. "The book's huge, but it actually distills quite easily. That said, I've shot a movie that's probably over three hours, so I'll have to lose 45 minutes in the edit."

Also, Imelda Staunton (Umbridge) has been trying for some time to get involved in the franchise and joked: "Well, actually I was rather insulted they'd never asked."

Finally, producer David Heyman praised Evanna Lynch as Luna: "She's an obsessive Potter fan who'd actually had correspondence with Jo Rowling. When she was cast Jo rang me up because she just couldn't believe it - from her letters she said, 'She is Luna.'"

You can view scans of this spread here, thanks to reader Elle!