Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis, has revealed why he decided not to ever pursue a ‘real career’ following childhood fame.
The actor, 35, rose to fame when he was just a child aged 11 as he played the iconic role of Neville Longbottom.
At the Rhode Island Comic Con on Sunday, November 3, the actor discussed his much-loved character and was asked how the cast of the franchise has remained so grounded.
‘We’re very good at hiding all of those stories,’ he joked as an explanation as to why none of the cast fell into the stereotypical pitfalls of other actors.
He then added sincerely that there was ‘absolutely a lot of trepidation’ about whether he’d ‘be able to hack it in that larger pool’ when moving from being a child actor to an adult in the industry.
‘Although, that said, I was very excited about the prospect. I have quite a short attention span, so that’s probably why I’ve never chosen a real career,’ he said.
‘[After] 10 years in Harry Potter, I was ready to do something else and also was not keen to do anything that was going to lead to multiple series.’
He then added that he ‘had no idea what was next’ and ‘wasn’t prepared at all’ for the next step in his career.
After the final film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, was released in 2011, the actor went on to appear in several other roles.
He appeared in the 2012 TV show The Syndicate, the second season of Happy Valley, Girlfriends, and All Creatures Great and Small.
In 2016 he appeared in Me Before You, alongside Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin and appeared in the 2018 thriller Terminal starring Margot Robbie.
The actor has stayed loyal to the fanbase and has frequently appeared at fan events where he has met with those who love the series and spoken to them about his time working on the franchise.
He commented that he believes that he was able to handle such extreme fame at a young age because of the cast of actors around him.
‘One of the questions that was asked earlier about the pitfalls of being a child actor that we seem to have avoided, I would posit that a large degree of that was because we were all there together,’ he said.
‘Frequently, you hear many stories of how they were the sole actor in that movie and having to carry that movie on their own and all of the pressures and anxieties that come with that. Whereas, we were all kind together.’
He added that the cast is all still close today: ‘It’s one of the things that I’ve carried with me is those friendships.’
‘I don’t go back and read the books. One of the only things that I still kind of hold onto is those relationships that we forged throughout those films.’
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