Harry Potter: Umbridge Actress Discusses That Torture Scene and More

The actress who played the super-mean Harry Potter character, Professor Dolores Umbridge, has weighed in with her thoughts on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You're not alone in hating the evil character from The Order of the Phoenix.

Imelda Staunton, who played her in the movie, described her in a new interview as a "bloody monster." She also talked about the torture scene from the 2007 film and the effect it had on her.

"I don't need to understand what she does, but from a character point of view, she believes she's doing the absolute best for that school," Staunton told Entertainment Weekly. "Yet again, I have embraced a completely and utterly deluded woman."

Director David Yates worked with Staunton to help her understand the true nature of Umbridge and her evil motivations.

"He made it very clear to me and said, 'Look, this woman is into ethnic cleansing,' and that's quite political," she said about her discussions with Yates. "He said, 'That's what this is, the pure-bloods and all that.' I thought, 'Christ, of course that's what it is,' so it became very serious. That's when you go, 'Right, I'm not just a lady in a very nice array of pink outfits. This is madness and cruelty dressed up.'"

Staunton played the part well, as the vile nature of the character sticks with fans today. She said Umbridge was a fascinating character to play, and remarked that the "I must not tell lies" scene where she physically punishes Harry Potter was particularly tough to film.

"The most difficult scene to do, which did leave me feeling pretty bad for a couple days, was actually the scene where I make him do the lines and it happens in his hand," she said.

What might be more frightening than the punishment itself was Umbridge's belief that she was in the right--for this scene and the movie overall. "She's not sort of twirling her mustache and saying 'Muahahaha'; it's the absolute and utter belief that actually it is going to help and that's, of course, so much more frightening," she explained.

Read the full Entertainment Weekly interview here.

In other Harry Potter news, it's been confirmed that Johnny Depp will play Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel. The first movie opens on November 18. It's directed by Yates and stars Eddie Redmayne as main character Newt Scamander.