In the Harry Potter movies, Matthew Lewis played fan-favorite character Neville Longbottom. But the actor now says that watching his performance in these movies is downright “painful.”
This came up during his recent interview with The New York Times. While Lewis was primarily promoting his new PBS series All the Creatures Great and Small, he eventually began talking about the kinds of roles he likes (and dislikes) performing.
According to Lewis, “I find it quite difficult when too much of me starts to come through in a character. It’s easier when I can play someone completely different, like a police officer in London or someone who’s wealthy.”
Where does his performance as Neville Longbottom fit into this? Lewis told the publication, “At times it’s painful how much of me there is in Neville. When I’m watching, I’m like, ‘that’s not Neville; that’s you.'”
Another reason why it may be painful to watch his performance is that Lewis underwent his own nearly-magical transformation. While the character of Longbottom looked and acted clumsy and awkward onscreen, Lewis himself eventually became a heartthrob that looks almost nothing like his famous Harry Potter character.
That transformation helped Lewis land a role as the leading man of All the Creatures Great and Small. And we have a feeling it won’t take a magical spell to get his many fans to tune in and check out his latest adventure.