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Longbottom casts spell at 'Potter' exhibit

By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein
October 23, 2009

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Muggles swarmed the Museum of Science last night to celebrate “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,’’ which opens to the public on Sunday. The highlight of the preview party? An appearance by Matthew Lewis, better known to “Potter’’ fans as Hogwarts’ own Neville Longbottom. This was the first time the 20-year-old Lewis had seen the exhibition, which he described as “incredible.’’ He arrived at the museum yesterday morning to donate one of his wands to the display.

The actor told us during his visit that he arrived in Boston on Tuesday and that he’ll stay until tomorrow. The long stay may give him time, he said, to zip down to Providence to see his pal Emma Watson, a.k.a. Hermione Granger, who’s studying at Brown University. Apparently, the wizards are all off-screen buddies. “I’m friends with Dan [Daniel Radcliffe] and Alfie Enoch, who plays Dean Thomas. He’s one of my really good friends. We can all drive now so we can get together and for music gigs.’’ Asked about plans for his post-“Potter’’ life, Lewis told us he’s still undecided. “I’m not sure I’m able to do anything else,’’ he joked. “I’ve been doing “Harry Potter’’ [films] since I was 5.’’

Another VIP at the Museum of Science party was “Harry Potter: The Exhibition’’ designer Eddie Newquist, who happens to be from Framingham. Newquist, who grew up creating haunted houses and now invents large-scale installations, said that after partnering with Warner Bros. for the exhibition, he was allowed to spend a few weeks on the set with actors to get a sense of what he calls “the wizarding world.’’ “We really tried to present the life of Harry Potter and his friends and didn’t try to pick one specific film,’’ Newquist explained. The exhibition runs through Feb. 21.

Creating a scene at Jacob Wirth

The wedding scene in the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz movie “Knight & Day’’ - which is still filming around Boston - will take place at Jacob Wirth on Stuart Street. The restaurant says on its website that it will be closed through this morning to accommodate the schedule. No word on whether the bar will get to keep its name in the film. (Remember when Doyle’s was given a random Irish-bar name in “Mystic River’’?) Word on the “Knight’’ set was that Diaz would be in the wedding scene, but that Cruise was off throughout the weekend. As we mentioned yesterday, the local band Groove Authority has been tapped to play the wedding band in the film.

‘Girlfriend’ is a wrap
Production on the movie “Girlfriend,’’ starring Amanda Plummer and “Twilight’’ actor Jackson Rathbone, has wrapped in Wayland. The indie movie, which has been filming locally since the end of September, is about a man with Down syndrome who develops a relationship with a single mother. Rathbone, who plays the woman’s abusive ex-boyfriend in the film, had to wrap the shoot quickly so that he could join Robert Pattinson and friends in Vancouver for filming of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.’’

Kiss off
According to the latest issue of New York magazine, Matt Damon came close to kissing his stepsister on camera. Sarah Bradford, who costars with Damon in the movie “The Adjustment Bureau,’’ told the magazine that she’d originally been offered the part of Damon’s love interest in the film - but turned it down, mainly because Bradford and Damon were raised as siblings. (Bradford’s mom married Damon’s dad.) Bradford, 22, will be playing a less icky role in the film.

Harvard party
UpStairs on the Square hosted a gala Wednesday night for a group of big names celebrating the 10th anniversary of Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Joining philanthropist Greg Carr were the Carr Center’s Samantha Power and the Kennedy School leaders Swanee Hunt, Dorothy Zinberg, and Rose Styron.

Ray hearts H&O
Cape Cod native Rachael Ray is apparently a fan of Hall & Oates. Ray’s people tell us that the “30-Minute Meals’’ chef has started a petition to get the pop duo into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Insert “Maneater’’ joke here.) You can find her petition on Twitter and Facebook. Ray will feature Daryl Hall and John Oates on her show Nov. 6.

They can dance
Of the 20 finalists on “So You Think You Can Dance’’ this season, two are locals. Channing Cooke, 18, of Haverhill, is a contemporary dancer, and Russell Ferguson, 20, of Boston, lists his specialty has hip-hop and krump. We hear the SYTYCD crew already filmed shots of Cooke hanging out around her hometown and Seabrook, N.H., where she works at a local ice cream shop. You can see the limber locals when the show airs on Monday.

Maysles at Wellesley
Filmmaker Albert Maysles, who made the 1976 documentary “Grey Gardens’’ (on which Drew Barrymore’s recent HBO drama was based), was at Wellesley College on Wednesday night as part of the New Directions in Documentary Film Festival and Symposium. His keynote speech was called “Handheld and from the Heart.’’

J.R. sighting
“Dallas’’ star Larry Hagman was spotted at Logan airport yesterday. We e-mailed Hagman’s people to find out why he’s in town and got this response: “He’s shooting a television show for Germany at Martha’s Vineyard.’’

Globe correspondent Meena Ganesan contributed. Read the Names blog at www.boston.com/namesblog. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.

© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
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