At least I like to keep it the same. That's why I've got all the same friends. That's why I go back to Leeds as much as possible. I don't know if you know much about England, but Yorkshire is a very sobering place. In the North. It's very gritty. Old mining villages. And people don't really care about celebrities up there. And it's great. And that's why I get back there whenever I can. 'Cause it keeps me very grounded, and it keeps my life very normal, whatever that is.

Matthew Lewis

Alan Rickman told me to do a play, so I did. Because when Alan Rickman tells you do something, you go and do it.

Matthew Lewis

play

I wasn't attractive when I was growing up, and I don't think I am now.

Matthew Lewis

growing growing-up thinking

I never contemplated. I just went in there and did my acting. I never thought, "What's the character actually feeling here? What's he trying to get across?" And never looked at it from that classically trained actor's point of view.

Matthew Lewis

views feelings character

I can't wait to go back home and disappear into relative obscurity for a bit. I just want to go back to my house and just get away from it all for a bit. It's so flattering to hear people say nice things about the performance, about the Harry Potter film. It's great. Don't get me wrong. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not shunning it. It's just been such a bubble I've been in, with these promotions.

Matthew Lewis

nice home people

There's not many people on the face of the earth that don't know Harry Potter is Daniel Radcliffe. He's had that since he was eleven years old, yet he hasn't changed since the day I met him.

Matthew Lewis

faces people years

I wasn't bullied or anything at school, but I was quite shy and didn't speak up too much in class.

Matthew Lewis

shy class school

The fame stuff, the kind words from websites and things, are very flattering and lovely, but I just wanna act.

Matthew Lewis

lovely kind stuff

I had a screen test and an audition for the role of Neville Longbottom. It wasn't a job at that point. It was just something I enjoyed doing. And it's hard to remember back then, really, that much. But I just remember loving it.

Matthew Lewis

neville-longbottom remember

I've always been partial to comedy. I love the idea of working on a comedic scene.

Matthew Lewis

comedy scene ideas

What I've found is that stage is very much a foundation of acting. It's where it all began and you're working with that repetition.

Matthew Lewis

foundation stage acting

Approaching a comedy character is fun because you get to sit down with the director and ask, "What makes you laugh?" Then you end up bouncing ideas off each other.

Matthew Lewis

fun character ideas

I did enjoy theater. I actually do prefer making films and television, but it was a learning experience for me, because I got into television at 5 and film at 11, and theater was something I completely bypassed.

Matthew Lewis

learning-experience enjoy film

I love playing football. I started playing for a school team, which is fun, and I play a lot of five a side. I nowhere near good enough to go professional but it's definitely one of my main hobbies. I play three times a week.

Matthew Lewis

team fun football

I was never really bullied at school. I was pretty confident in terms of school work and teachers and I've never shyed away from much but a lot of people have come up to me and said that they were bullied at school and my portrayal of Neville has influenced them a lot in their lives and helped them out.

Matthew Lewis

teacher people school

I love making people laugh.

Matthew Lewis

love-making laughing people

Theater was such a different school of acting. But it really is a foundation of everything. It's where it all started! And I feel like I learned so much.

Matthew Lewis

different acting school

You have to prepare for the unexpected. You have to be able to react to things that don't necessarily happen every night, or aren't supposed to happen every night. And you have to react to it in character.

Matthew Lewis

able character night

As long as I'm acting and doing what I love, I'll be happy.

Matthew Lewis

acting long

I'm very comfortable being at home and keeping my head down, really. It's nice being invited to night clubs and stuff, which is nice once in a while, but I prefer to kind of keep to myself.

Matthew Lewis

nice home night

Theater gave me the confidence to believe I could play something else, 'cause it was so difficult. It was me out of my comfort zone. It gave me the confidence to believe that I could push myself and challenge myself and still succeed. Yeah. I'm very, very glad I did it. And I'm very keen, now, to take what I learned there into more television and film.

Matthew Lewis

challenges comfort believe