The Irish actress, who played Luna Lovegood in the Potter movies, admits she put her teacher parents through hell when she fell sick with the eating disorder around the age of 10, and they did everything they could to help her get healthy.

But it wasn't until she landed the role of Luna - after writing fan letters to Rowling - that she really turned a corner and found the strength to beat the condition.

"I'm very glad that all that happened to me before Harry Potter," she tells the Irish Independent. "I was very sick and all my parents' time and resources went on me - therapists, nutritionists. My sisters were young at the time and I think they were angry that I was making my parents so down."

Admitting anorexia brought her closer to her parents, the actress credits her folks for concentrating on her creative dreams during her recovery - because acting eventually gave her the will to beat the eating disorder.

"My family's attitude... during recovery was very helpful," she adds. "I went to the clinic for about three months and afterwards, some families would monitor everything they ate, weigh them every few days, and my parents didn't do any of that. I think that was healthier, even though it was not what the clinic recommended.

"If everyone focused on your every bite and on you, then you can't get away from it. My parents had really nourished the art and the creative impulse. Acting actually brought me away from anorexia. I fell in love more with my dreams than my fears."

Evanna gets letters from the parents of anorexics, but she's hesitant about becoming a poster child for the disorder.

"You can't send everyone to the same clinic with the same programme and that's it," she explains. "It's really up to the person, getting to know themselves and asking if they want to leave that side of themselves behind.

"I like talking about it so that people are aware and not ashamed, but I don't want to take on the responsibility of saying, 'I know how to do this'... I think it's a matter of having the right people around you, good therapists you can trust and work with and who help you see things in different ways."