In a recent interview, Lucius Malfoy actor Jason Isaacs spoke a little about his possible part in the seventh movie:

"I am not in number six unfortunately, but I hope to be in number seven which starts next year and I haven't seen the scripts. If I am not in it I will be picketing the set to be sure."

Given the considerably more prominent role Lucius has in Deathly Hallows, compared to HBP, it's likely Isaacs will return for that movie.

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The actor who plays Lucius Malfoy in the Potter films has given a new interview to ComingSoon.net, who asks him lots of questions about his role in the Potter franchise! Of particular interest, he talks about how he plead with Jo to free his character in Deathly Hallows:

CS: What was it like to pick up the final "Harry Potter" book when it came out and not know what was in there, especially for you?

Isaacs: I'm not quite strong enough to pick up a book of that weight. I had a couple of people to help me, and a winch. The secret can be out now. Before it came out I wasn't quite sure – there was a point where I wasn't sure I was going to do anymore because there wasn't much for me to do in number five and I wasn't in number six. I met Jo Rowling for the first time at a big awards dinner. I went over and basically fell to my knees and said "Get me out of prison, I beg you." She looked over her shoulder and looked back at me mouthing "You're out. Chapter One." And that was it, that's all I had to know, and I signed up immediately.

Read the full post right here! Thanks to Spencer and Matt for the tip.

As we told you yesterday, Emma Watson was nominated for Best Actress, Dan Radcliffe for Best Actor, David Yates for Best Director, Nicholas Hooper (who composed the fifth film's soundtrack) for Best Soundtrack, and OOTP itself for Best Film and Best Sci-fi/Fantasy at the Empire awards.

The ceremony took place last night and congratulations to David Yates who earned the Best Director award for his work on Order of the Phoenix. Check out a video interview with him at the bottom of this page where he concedes being tempted to direct the Deathly Hallows film.

Further coverage of the event, including photos of Emma Watson, Evanna Lynch, Katie Leung and Jason Isaacs, can be seen here.

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In a new interview, Jason Isaacs, who portrays Lucius Malfoy, discusses his absence in Half-Blood Prince. At the recent BAFTAs, he told Rotten Tomatoes that it was "a source of great embitterment in the Isaacs household, but he's in Azkaban so what can you do?" However, he has high hopes for the last installment.

"I hope I'm coming back for seven. Dan's going to Broadway to do his play for a long time, so I don't know when or if I'm going to come back. But I'll be even more bitter if I don't get to return for seven!"

Many of Britain's shining stars showed up for this year's BAFTAs today, among them Daniel Radcliffe and Jason Isaacs. Both Potter actors each presented an award for the event. One news report states that Radcliffe "got one of the biggest cheers of the night from the crowd." Order of the Phoenix was up for both "Special Visual Effects" and "Production Design," but lost both awards to The Golden Compass and Atonement, respectively. You can take a look at a few the pictures from the night here in the gallery.

Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) is currently performing in the West End play The Dumb Waiter. In a new interview, he talks about the play and, of course, briefly discusses Harry Potter.

"It's absurd a man of my age doing that stuff. And then you get there and realise you're doing scenes with Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter. I look at the call sheet and they're going to be there today, I'm going to get to talk to them. Before you know it you're having lunch and sharing HP sauce. It's fantastic.

"If you're someone like me who finds work enjoyably tortured - I'm constantly niggling away trying to make it better and realer and more three-dimensional - it's nice to leave all that at home and turn up at Harry Potter and just be unalloyed Nazi evil."

The Lucius Malfoy actor today made an appearance on Richard & Judy. Isaacs talks about some of his current acting projects, and a little about Potter:

"I'm waiting to see if I'll be in the seventh book with baited breath. I go to prison all the way through [Book] 6, so number 7, obviously I'm desperate to find out if I get out. I actually met JK Rowling at an awards ceremony and I went over and said 'I'm begging you' [and she laughed]."

A short video clip of this can be seen here.

Jason Isaacs, Mr. Malfoy in Harry Potter, recently spoke about the closing scenes of the Order of the Phoenix movie, particularly the battle he shot alongside Gary Oldman (Sirius Black). Furthermore, the actor caught up with Jo lately and appealed for her to include his character in Deathly Hallows:

"I fell to my knees and begged. It didn't do any good. I'm sure she doesn't need plot ideas from me. But I made my point. We'll see. Like everybody else, I'm holding my breath to July to see what's in there. I just want to bust out of prison, that's all. I don't want to stay in Azkaban most of my life."

For clarification - although he says July as the release of Book 7, no date has been announced yet.

Jason Isaacs and his character Lucius Malfoy have made the The San Francisco Chronicle's list of the Sexiest Men Never Alive. This is Lucius' second honor recently as he was also on the Forbes list of richest fictional characters.

By the way, my name is Kaitlin and I've just been hired to help keep you guys up to date with the news.

The Lucius Malfoy actor appeared today on the UK chat show, where he discussed the Harry Potter films and mentioned that he finished filming his scenes for OOTP last week. If anyone managed to record the program, please let us know.

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UPDATE: Jade has written in with a report of what Jason had to say:

He talked about the HP films he'd been in, about how he came up with a costume because he didn't like the original - salt and pepper hair and a pinstripe suit. In COS he made up the idea to kick Dobby in Dumbledore's office. He worked with Gary Oldman (one of his favourite actors) on OOTP and they had loads of fun doing the fight scene at the Ministry. They enjoyed coming up with new and exciting ways to wave a wand and to fight with spells.

Thanks, Jade!

TV Guide recently spoke with the actor who plays Lucius Malfoy in the Potter films, including the upcoming Order of the Phoenix:

TVGuide.com: Where do you stand with the next Potter film, Order of the Phoenix? [Isaacs plays Lucius Malfoy, the father of Harry's archrival, Draco.]
Isaacs: I'm shooting [State Within in Canada] all of next month, and then I go home, unpack, get the mothballs off the wig, stick it on and start waving my wand about.

TVGuide.com: A Potterphile pal of mine says fans are anxious to see how Order of the Phoenix handles the Battle of the Ministry, a "beyond huge" moment, I am told, in Potter lore.
Isaacs: I am, too. This is all as entertaining for me as it is for many of the fans. I turn up and they go, "OK, you materialize from here and you fly in over here, and then you point at this and it's going to explode...." I stand there with my jaw dropped.

Thanks to everyone who's e-mailed with the tip!

Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) recently did an interview with the LA Daily News, noting that he will be filming for Movie 5 in September and October. He also discussed why he enjoys portraying the nasty character:

"I torture myself by always trying to be interesting and human on screen, but every now and again it's great to be in 'Harry Potter' and just rip it up and be as singularly evil and unpleasant as possible."

Filming for Order of the Phoenix is expected to recommence next month.