Matthew Lewis Says It's 'Painful' Watching Himself Play Neville Longbottom In Harry Potter

Matthew Lewis has revealed he finds it 'painful' watching himself play Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series.

Lewis launched to international fame as a child - along with much of the cast - after the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001.

Now 31, and having come along way as an actor, he finds it quite hard to watch back his portrayals of the mediocre Gryffindor student.

Speaking to The New York Times, he said: "I find it quite difficult when too much of me starts to come through in a character.

"It's easier when I can play someone completely different, like a police officer in London or someone who's wealthy.

"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.'"

Not all of the cast look back at the series quite the same way though. In fact, Tom Felton seemingly reflects on those times yearnfully.

The actor, who played Draco Malfoy, demonstrated in a post on Instagram that child actors - like the rest of us - cannot defy the hands of time, donning his Slytherin gown and posing next to a photo of himself as a young Draco back in the day.

Captioning the post, the 33-year-old said: "Agings a b*tch"

His inevitable physical transformation over the two decades since he debuted as the smarmy little sh*t in the hugely successful wizard school series evidently hasn't hampered his popularity though, with the post receiving more than 1,488,000 likes.

His pal, Tom Fletcher from McFly, commented: "You'll always be beautiful to me TF"

However, Lewis - who has become somewhat of a heartthrob since his Longbottom days - clearly didn't agree with his appraisal of the ageing process, replying: "Speak for yourself lad!"

Lewis married Angela Jones in 2018, having met her two years earlier at a Wizarding World event at Universal Studios - I sh*t you not.

As well as acting, the Yorkshireman is also a co-host of The Official Leeds United Podcast.

Topics: Harry Potter, TV and Film, Celebrity

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey