Matthew Lewis

Early life[]

Matthew David Lewis was born 27 June 1989, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, the son of Adrian and Lynda Lewis. He has two older brothers named Chris and Anthony; he began acting at the age of 5 in order to follow in the footsteps of his brothers. He attended St Mary's RC High School in Menston, Leeds and supports the local football team. He enjoys playing video games, including Counter Strike and Battlefield 1942, as well as playing tennis and badminton. He had intentions to join the Royal Airforce.

Career[]

Before being cast as Neville Longbottom, Lewis appeared in many television shows, including Heartbeat, Dalziel and Pascoe, and This is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. His favourite football team is Leeds United. He attended St Mary's High School in Menston, West Yorkshire. Lewis has been acting since he was five years old. He started off with minor parts in television programmes like his debut 'Some Kind of Life' and then went on to try out for the part of Neville Longbottom. He has portrayed Neville Longbottom in all eight of the Harry Potter films.

For his role as Neville, Lewis wore yellow and crooked false teeth (though only in Prisoner of Azkaban), a fat suit, two-sizes-too-big shoes and had plastic bits placed behind his ears in order to make them stick out more. He was also under contract not to fix his naturally crooked teeth until filming was completed. This was done to give the character a more awkward and "geeky" appearance. Lewis has spoken out against this treatment in interviews, claiming that while it no longer bothers him, having to take on a purposefully unattractive appearance on a film set full of attractive girls his age whilst going through puberty was "rubbish".^[1]

During the filming of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Helena Bonham Carter, who portrays Bellatrix Lestrange, accidentally ruptured Lewis's eardrum when she stuck her wand in his ear. Lewis is also known to be a fan of the books and has read them and modelled his acting on Neville. This is highly admired in the Potter fandom and has earned him praise. Matthew also likes to play a bit of cricket.

Personal life[]

In December 2016, Lewis announced his engagement to Angela Jones, who he met at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where she worked as an event planner.^[2] On 28 May 2018, Matthew married Angela Jones in Italy.

Filmography[]

• Bluestone 42 (2013 Christmas Special - Series 2 2014)... Corporal Gordan "Towerblock" House
• The Night of the Loving Dead (2012)... Nigel - (short-film, voice character)
• Wasteland (2012)... Dodd - (post-production)
• The Syndicate (2012)... Jamie Bradley - (TV series, series 1)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)... Neville Longbottom
• Agatha Christie's Verdict (2011)... Lester Cole - (stage production)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (2010)...Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)... Neville Longbottom
• The Queen's Handbag (Harry Potter short film) (2006)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)... Neville Longbottom
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)... Neville Longbottom
• Heartbeat (1999)
• Where the Heart is (1997)
• Dalziel and Pascoe (1996)
• Some kind of life (1995)

Trivia[]

• Lewis' favourite quote from Neville Longbottom is: "Why is it always me?"^{[citation needed]}
• Lewis' favourite prop from the Harry Potter series is the Sword of Godric Gryffindor.^{[citation needed]}
• Lewis has played Neville on two other occasions apart from the movies and the games. This involves a skit for the Queen's 80th birthday, titled The Queen's Handbag, as well as a small cameo for the theme park ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
• Lewis was sorted into Hufflepuff house by the new Pottermore sorting quiz.^[3]
• In an interview with People.com while at the Harry Potter New York Store, he revealed he would not reprise his role of Neville in the upcoming television series. He stated "It is not something I'm looking at or want to do but would not turn my nose up at. I’d be very interested to see if it was Neville as an adult – a whole different vibe. That could be interesting. I would certianly look at that and consider it". He also noted that he would not be interested in the reboot because he wants to do other things. He also mentioned he has a short attention span and it affects him due to poor maintenance for any long term projects.^[4]

Notes and references[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 26 images related to Matthew Lewis.

External links[]

• Matthew Lewis's official account on X
• Matthew Lewis Official Agency Profile Page at Curtis Brown
• Matthew Lewis on Wikipedia
• Matthew Lewis at Internet Movie Database
• Matthew-Lewis.com (fan-site)