Tuesday, November 01, 2011

J.K. Rowling Says She Almost Killed Off Ron Weasley


In the DVD extras for Deathly Hallows Part 2, Daniel Radcliffe interviews J.K. Rowling. That alone would be a pretty great bonus, but J.K. goes for so much more. In the interview she says that about halfway through the series she was in a bad place emotionally and was thisclose to killing to off Ron Weasley.

"I think in my absolute heart of heart of hearts, although I did seriously consider killing Ron, I wouldn't have done it."

She says her original plan was to always never kill off the three main characters but also said she did not plan on ever killing off any of the people she ultimately did kill off so who knows if she would have actually killed off Ron. It would have made for an interesting dynamic later on. Would Harry and Hermoine have ended up together? Who would have saved Harry from the frozen pond? I think J.K. went after the Weasley family so frequently because there were so many of them.

She said she was going to kill Ron just so people would not have him anymore and that she was going to do it out of spite. It does sound like she was in a really bad place when she was writing at that time. I wonder what was going on in her life.

22 comments:

MontanaMarriott said...

I would have liked that ending better, kill off Ron and through their sorrow, Hermione and Harry grow closer and eventually fall in love.

Sue Ellen Mishkey said...

Thank goodness she didn't. I almost fell out when one of the twins (Fred? George?) got killed.

Treesap-Covered Lady, the Humanist said...

I kinda wish she would have killed off Ron since I would have stopped reading the books. I wouldn't have had my heart broken my Snape's death and memories. This bitch cried like a baby.

Murphy Brown 2020 said...

Montana, I've gotta say that I prefer your ending. I always wanted Harry and Hermione to end up together.

Dumbledore's death was traumatizing enough, though. I finished that book in public, and people must have thought that someone I actually *knew* had kicked the bucket.

Sue Ellen Mishkey said...

^ I didn't want to admit that I was gutted when Snape died because he had the best lines. But now that you have I feel like there is safety in numbers.

Sue Ellen Mishkey said...

that was @Treesap-Lady

Jasmine said...

Most heartbreaking part of the entire series????

When we find out Snape's patronus is the same one as Harry's Mums and than at the end of the movie when he asks Harry to look at him one last time as he is dying and he gasps "you have your mother's eyes"

OMG- friggin fantastic!

But yeah, I personally thought Harry and that Indian-Brit girl, Prakash, Priya? had more chemistry than him and Ginny. To have those two get together seemed more saccharine sweet and less realistic to me.

RenoBlondee said...

^Hell, I cried way back when Sirius died. Also, when Dobby died!

Rose said...

Sirius & George's (or was it Fred?) death were the worst for me.

Snape was really sad, as he was one of my favorites but it felt right. The other two weren't necessary IMO.

Murphy Brown 2020 said...

Dobby's death GUTTED me.

Boy, what a bunch of depressing books. LOL.

Cindy said...

Ms. Rowling certainly knew how to write her characters into our hearts and minds. For a first time author that was just amazing. I refused to see the movies in public because I knew I would walk out bawling like a baby -- thank God for dvds, lol

Patty said...

Fred is dead. The rhyme is the only way I remember that.

I truely thought Ron would die saving Harry and through death he would get the fame he always wanted in life.

I saw HP7.2 with a friend who had not yet read book 7. Afterwards, she said she couldn't figure out why I was crying so hard when Snape died. Obviously she got it when they showed his memories.

Treesap-Covered Lady, the Humanist said...

@ Ida On that note, I can't wait to give them to my kids to read!

The walk in the woods also killed me--when Harry asked if dying would hurt--ugh, tears!

@ Cindy, I waited until the last movie had been out for a few weeks before I saw it. It was a pretty empty showing, but I'm sure everyone heard me choking back sobs.

ForSure said...

I saw 7a and 7b in theatres, the second one with my teenage niece. I just hid behind my long hair, and coughed a lot. ;)

Hedwig and Dobby were the hardest for me, in the final book, then Tonks and Lupin. Lupin became Harry's guardian and their relationship was very sweet. In the books, Harry and Ginny's relationship makes much more sense, but the it was so poorly developed in Half Blood Prince (the worst of all the movies) that I can understand why fans began to hate it. I personally prefer Harry and Hermione's best friend/brother sister relationship.

Ms Cool said...

Allow me to join the gutted train of Snape, Dobby, Hedwig, Dumbledore, Tonks and Lupin.

Mango said...

Sorry, but I find this whole thing a big fat yawn fest. I read the first book and saw the first movie and props to Rowling for making a billion dollars off of this, but wizards (and vampires) leave me cold.

Carry on.

Lelaina Pierce said...

I would have been devastated if she'd killed any of the main three. I cried at all the deaths but the worst was Dumbledore.

It's always interesting to hear the different ways the series could have gone. I also wonder what was going on in her life that would make her want to kill off Ron.

Miss X said...

I'm so glad she didn't kill off Ron. He was one of my favorite characters. She killed off enough characters as it was. And I'm glad Harry & Hermoine never got together. That would have just been weird.

Treesap-Covered Lady, the Humanist said...

@ Lalaina I didn't cry when Dumbledore died; however, I did cry something fierce at his funeral.

Andrea said...

Dobby's death was the worst for me. Still makes me sad thinking about it. ::sniff::

Paisley said...

Harry clearly belonged with Luna. Ginny was practically his sister. Ick.

Jenn719 said...

I think I remember reading that JK Rowling had considered killing off Ron when the last book came out. If I remember correctly it was around the time her own mother passed away. I'm so glad she didn't. I couldn't have imagined her killing off any of those 3. I cried for many of the deaths throughout the books. Dumbledore's was the worst for me. I cried for the last 7 chapters of Half Blood Prince. I could tell that Dumbledore was going to die, but he didn't go quickly and I was hoping somehow he would make it.

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