Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton wasn't exactly flattered when a friend first suggested she'd be perfect for the part of Harry Potter's first female nemesis, Dolores Umbridge.

"I read the book, and Umbridge is described as a short, ugly, toadlike woman," Staunton told Newsweek. "I thought, 'Oh, thanks very much."'

But Staunton ended up playing the villainess as an "apple-cheeked schoolmarm — drenched in pink angora," the magazine says. In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth movie based on the J.K. Rowling series, Umbridge is a new teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry bent on restricting free thought.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.