No more Neville

SOMETHING strange has been happening in Matthew Lewis’ life of late. Despite starring in all eight Harry Potter films as shy and clumsy Neville Longbottom, he’s getting more of a reaction on the street now, almost three years after the final movie was released.

“The thing my friends and family, and myself, can’t seem to fathom is the fact that it’s actually got worse,” says Lewis, who is calling from South Africa, where he is filming his latest project. “It’s not a bad thing, but more people recognise me now than they ever did when I was making the films.”

Not least among is his admirers are the female contingent who waited en mass to catch a glimpse of the newly-appointed heart-throb when he made his West End debut in Our Boys, in late 2012.

His latest role should go down well with his fans, as he plays ammunition technician Corporal Gordon House in the comedy-drama Bluestone 42. The series follows a fictional bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan and was a critical success when it first aired in early 2013.

“I watched the first series and remember thinking that I’d love to be part of a show like that. It’s a comedy and aims to make people laugh, but it’s not trivialised,” says Lewis, who made his first appearance in the Christmas special and cements his character in the new six-part series.

Cheeky chappy Gordon, nicknamed Tower Block, was brought in to replace Corporal Millsy (Gary Carr) as number two to Captain Medhurst (Oliver Chris).

“He’s the best of the best and came top in all his classes, but when he arrived in Afghanistan he was very green and thought he knew a lot more than he actually did,” says Lewis, who admits his alterego “had a bit of a chip on his shoulder” at first.

“He didn’t get on with Medhurst initially, there was a bit of friction between them. Gordon’s a lad and loves getting stuck in with the banter – especially giving Medhurst stick for being a posh public schoolboy, but then he did a lot of growing up in that half-hour special.”

The actors’ relationship off screen couldn’t be more different, and Lewis credits the whole cast and crew for making him feel welcome. “I arrived at the read-through, and obviously it’s quite daunting joining a show, but everyone was so fantastic, taking me under their wing, I felt part of the team early on.”

And there’s been plenty of time for fun in the sunny location, which he describes as stunning.

“We’re laughing and joking on set because we’re making a comedy, but when we’re not working everyone’s spending time together and it’s been great,” he says.

In the first week, he and four others entered a local 10k run in South Africa. “We all did pretty well,” says Lewis, who completed the Great North Run last September and describes himself as “pretty sporty”.

But he’s far from holier than thou, he insists.

“There are a fair few bars in the town we’ve been staying in. We’ve tried to drink like squaddies and done a pretty good job of it – but of course been very professional on school nights,” he adds, laughing.

Like his character, Lewis is a proud Yorkshireman and still counts Leeds as home. “All my friends are there and they’re the ones who keep me grounded,” he says. “When you’re making movies like Potter, you can lose yourself in the glamour of making a big Hollywood film.”

IF he doesn’t sound overawed by the industry, it might have something to do with the fact he’s grown up in it.

“Anthony, my older brother (who has appeared in shows such as A Touch Of Frost and Emmerdale), started when he was eight and I was two, so my mother chaperoned him and I got taken along. So I kind of grew up on television and film sets,” he explains, adding that he decided early on that he wanted to act.

By that he means aged five, when he landed his first role in Kay Mellor’s TV movie Some Kind Of Life. One-off appearances in Dalziel And Pascoe, Where The Heart Is and Heartbeat followed, before he was cast in the first Harry Potter movie, released back in 2001. It’s rather fitting that, post- Potter, his first part was another Mellor project, the Lottery drama The Syndicate.

“It kind of came full circle,” says Lewis, whose brother also appeared in the series.

There’s a third sibling, Chris, the eldest, who is also in the industry – behind the camera. “He became a cameraman, and now he’s an editor and works on The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent,”

says Lewis.

His latest role is a break from the stage, which he felt he needed after the 12-week Our Boys run.

“You only work three or four hours in the evening, but your day’s taken up focused on that, and it can become quite a chore in the later runs to get through stuff,” Lewis says candidly. “On Bluestone 42, you’re doing different stuff every day.

“We’re blowing stuff up, playing around with rifles and it’s beautiful sunshine, so if I ever complain about a job like this then someone kill me immediately!”

• Bluestone 42: Thursday, BBC3, 10pm.