You might know Evanna Lynch best as dreamy Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter movies but this actress has plenty more than one string to her bow.  Among her many talents is the fact that she spent her late teens taking ballet, jazz and various other dance classes, a skill that she is putting to great use on the American version of Dancing with the Stars.  Evanna and her partner Keo have tangoed their way to the semi-finals and with just two weeks left to go, the pressure is on.  Really though, Evanna is just having the time of her life.  "There's kind of a thing with actors, oh don't do reality TV, but I just I love dancing and I've always been like please can I be on that show!" she told Ryan Tubridy.

"I'm actually a failed dancer because I wanted to be a dancer rather than an actor but I just didn't really have the technique because I spent a few years doing the Harry Potter films and I wasn't really focused so anyway, this was kind of my chance to revisit that love."

Evanna also spoke very movingly to Ryan about her struggle with self-esteem and eating disorders, sending a message of hope that although she always has to keep an eye on her mental health, she has found ways to manage it and excel in life despite her challenges.

"It's a lifelong battle and I think the reason it's so intense when you're a teenager is you're just not used to those feelings and you're not used to managing them…  When you're really depressed, when someone's bullying you, when you get rejected, that kind of thing, you've never had such intense emotions and it all comes at once and it feels like the world is ending."

Evanna says she still has those days where the negative voice in her head takes over, but she deals with it by realising that she has a choice either to feed the negative emotions or to choose to see things positively.

"Yes, you can absolutely believe those negative voices and just give in and just say yeah I'm a failure, every doubt that I have about myself is true… and you can also very deliberately say I'm going to choose the positive way…  One really important thing that I've found is just to surround yourself with positive people, people who actually make you feel good about yourself…  That changes your outlook so much when you're with people who love you but I really sympathise because I have days where I just write in my diary and I just feel so much self-hate…  I don't think that voice goes away but you have to choose to like fall in love with something else…  It's a bigger picture of the negative talk versus the positive talk and it's really hard when you're a teenager."

Evanna spoke about her own personal branch of feminism and the essay she contributed to Scarlett Curtis' book 'Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies)'.  She also talked about the power of learning to accept herself exactly as she is and "embracing your own oddities".

"Be very passionate about it.  Be comfortable in it.  Introverts have their own strengths too…  We need those kind of sensitive, introspective people too but it's hard and I've actually found it hard on this show too… I didn't have to like change anything.  I'm still here, I'm still in the semi-finals and there's something that resonates with some people of me just being my normal, grounded somewhat more quiet self."

Click here to listen to Evanna's interview in full.

Photo credit:  Michael Chester