Virgin Radio

August 22, 2024, 07:42

The latest episode of “Spooning With Mark Wogan” featuring “Harry Potter” star Alfred Enoch is out now.

The British-Brazilian actor talks to the son of the late Sir Terry Wogan about how he joined the cast of “Harry Potter” at the age of 11 and what he learned from Viola Davis on “How To Get Away From Murder.”

Alfred says about his job on the great Harry Potter series: “I did I wanted to be a part of it because I had read the books and I absolutely loved them. I was totally blown away. So for me, it was the biggest thing that could have happened. And they literally showed up at my school and auditioned all at the age of two.”

However, he did not audition for the film series. “I was 11 and I didn’t audition because I thought, ‘I’m not going to get a part. It’s too big. It’s this massive thing and it’s wonderful.’ And on the other hand, I thought, ‘There’s not going to be a part for me,’ because as a young black boy, I thought the only character I knew in the books was explicitly black and he was older. So I thought, well, they’re not going to cast me as Lee Jordan. And I remember thinking, ‘Except for Dean Thomas, he’s kind of not very described,’ so maybe I could play that part. But I ended up not auditioning.”

However, it turned out that the young actor got the role anyway. He tells Mark: “I was doing a play with the National Youth Music Theatre, which then went on tour, and someone from the casting department saw me in the play and then asked me to audition, and I ended up playing Dean Thomas.”

Of the “fundamental impact” it had on his career, Alfred said: “I was able to be part of this thing that I already knew and loved. It was important to me, and I bought the books as a fan and devoured them, so to speak. But because I didn’t have that much to do, I led a pretty normal life. So it was more like summer school or something.”

He added: “It was very useful. Because you know, sometimes I had to do homework and I knew I was coming, I was filming and then I thought, ‘I’m not going to be there to hand it in. So this is great.'”

About working with Viola Davis in “How To Get Away From Murder,” the Wes Gibbins actor said: “She’s an extraordinary actress and really just a happy and lovely person. She has this incredible strength, this gravity, this dignity, but she has a lightness as a person that people might not expect.”

Watch the entire chat where Mark tries to change Alfred’s mind about anise flavors here:

Read what Mark Wogan told Chris Evans about why he blindfolds guests on his Spooning podcast Here.

Previous Spooning guests include Claudia WinklemanHelen Skelton, Gaby RoslinBeverly Knight, Jimmy Carr, Jason Fox, the Appleton sistersThomas Rosenthal, The hairy bikersTim Lovejoy James MartinMosquito Ure, Joe WicksEddie Izzard and Virgin Radio’s own Ryan Tubridy And Angela Scanlon.

Spooning is available wherever you get your podcasts, with episodes released every Thursday. Watch via @virginradiouk on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok.

You can see Alfred in Pericles at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. For more information visit: rsc.org.uk.

Catch Spooning With Mark Wogan at Pub In The Park in St Albans from 6-8 September 2024. For more information visit www.pubintheparkuk.com. Mark will also be at CarFest 2024 on the August bank holiday weekend.