Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis says it’s ‘painful’ to rewatch his performances in anthology

Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis says it’s ‘painful’ to rewatch his performances as Neville Longbottom in the wizardry anthology, because the character is so much like he is.

‘I find it quite difficult when too much of me starts to come through in a character,’ Lewis, 31, told The New York Times.

The British actor said that ‘it’s easier when [he] can play someone completely different,’ than he is, ‘like a police officer in London or someone who’s wealthy.’

He continued, ‘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.”‘

Lewis said that he remains grateful to be apart of the film franchise, based off the work of author J.K. Rowling.

‘If there’s something people remember you by, there are worse things than the Harry Potter franchise,’ Lewis said. ‘It opened so many doors for me when I otherwise wouldn’t even have gotten in the room.’

Speaking with the newspaper, Harry Potter filmmaker David Yates said that Lewis’s growth was parallel to his character’s.

Yates, 57, said Lewis ‘became more confident, more curious, more present as the films progressed. And more ambitious.’

The filmmaker said he penned a specific scene for 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 with Lewis in mind that had not been in the literature, showcasing Neville torching a bridge that stunted the efforts of Lord Voldemort and his minions.

‘It captured the charms of Neville and Matthew’s everyman quality,’ Neville said. ‘He had a modesty and an honesty that was hard to ignore.’