Harry Potter Star Reveals Frustration With Role

Another Harry Potter star has stepped forward about some frustration with his role. Matthew Lewis is pretty recognizable to fans as Neville Longbottom in the hit series. But, he’s gotten pretty tired of people acting like that’s the only thing he’s ever done. During an appearance on the Inside of You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum, the actor explains that it’s been a decade since he last walked those halls of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, that doesn’t stop fans and media outlets from sometimes behaving like it’s all he’s been in before his latest projects. It happens to a lot of actors both young and old. They become known for their most high-profile roles. It’s a little more intense when dealing with a franchise as big as Harry Potter though. A ton of kids see the movie series you were in as a legitimate part of their upbringing and maybe share that with their children now. So, it’s a bit complicated, and that can’t be easy for Lewis.

He began, “I still to a degree get a bit frustrated sometimes when people sort of say, ‘Oh, he’s’ — for example I’m doing this show at the minute; it’s on PBS, and like a lot of the headlines are, ‘He’s no longer Neville Longbottom anymore.’ It’s like, ‘I haven’t been that for 10 years.’ And I have done things that have been so wildly different.”

“Like, I’ve been in dramas that have won BAFTAs and done all of this kind of stuff. And I’m not bragging; it’s just like I’ve done all this stuff and like 10 years later it’s still like people are making the claim I’ve sort of jumped from Harry Potter into this and have completely ignored the journey it’s taken to get there,” Lewis continued.

“That can be frustrating–not that I’m frustrated with anything to do with Harry Potter — but it’s like you have that voice in your head that goes, ‘Hey you know all that work you did for the past 10 years,” the actor added. “No one f****** saw it. No one cares.’ They still think this is the first job you’ve done since Harry Potter.”

Regardless of these facts, it’s hard to see it stopping anytime soon. One quick way this could be alleviated is if he had another turn in a big Hollywood movie. But, unfortunately, there would probably still be some questions about his journey there from Harry Potter. Just not an easy situation to be in.

Do you understand where he’s coming from? Let us know in the comments!