Matthew Lewis Talks Stage Acting and Alan Rickman’s Death

by · May 25, 2016

In a recent interview with Fault Magazine, Matthew Lewis discusses life after Potter, the day he heard news of Alan Rickman’s death, and much more. With his TV appearances on Ripper Street and Happy Valley, as well as his upcoming big-screen appearance in Me Before You alongside Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke, Matt Lewis’s career has seen an interesting evolution.

After a decade of portraying Neville Longbottom on screen, the actor shifted his focus to theater. As he voiced to Fault Magazine,

When it came down to it, I didn’t really know what I was doing. It was such a different school of acting than what I was prepared for. Getting up on stage, everything has to be bigger. You can’t internalize, as much as you can on camera; it has to be all big for the audience to experience it. […] I think I just had to really knuckle down and watch the other actors and directors. Before the end of it, about 3-4 months into it, I just clicked.

He goes on to talk about his affinity for complex characters.

I don’t really get offered those types of roles anymore. The lovable, vulnerable, cheeky, Neville-type roles. They just never come up; it’s not like I’m getting them and turning them down. […] Neville was quite complex in his character, with his history and things like that, but I am more drawn towards characters that are shades of grey.

Matthew then shares the touching moment when he discovered that Alan Rickman had passed away. Having looked up to the actor for a substantial chunk of his adolescence, it was an understandably emotional moment for him.

I was at Leavesden Studios the other day, visiting the set of Fantastic Beasts, and I was with the producer who did all the Harry Potter films. He was taking me around the studio when the news came through. We were both just completely stunned. But also, to be in the studio when that came through, suddenly every room that I went into, every corridor that I walked down on, I suddenly remembered a story or an image of Alan. It got a bit odd. It was quite surreal but also powerfully moving as well. It was quite nice to be there. All those happy memories came flooding back, and I got quite nostalgic, actually. I went back home last night and just watched loads of interviews with him. It’s hard to describe. On his last day, I had a cup of tea with him in his trailer, and we just sat and chatted about the future of my career and what I should do. He just offered me advice in where I should go, and he said some things to me that filled me with a lot of confidence. And when you hear those sorts of things from someone of his stature, his ability, it means a lot.

You can the full interview here. What do you think about Matthew Lewis’s work post Harry Potter? Let us know in the comments below!