Neville Longbottom Fights Back

Matthew Lewis talks about playing Neville

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In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Neville Longbottom begins to change from a shy, clumsy student to a rebellious and talented wizard. He's proud to defend his school against Voldemort and prepared to avenge his parents' murder.

Scholastic News Online talked to Matthew Lewis, the actor who plays Neville, about the transformation his character makes in the new film.

Q: How has your character changed from the previous movies?
Matthew Lewis: Well, Neville's not as soft as he was in the first four films. He's very shy and vulnerable. He's very nervous about being a student at Hogwarts. But when Harry reinstates Dumbledore's Army in this film, Neville really has something to fight for. He hates Voldemort because he took his parents away from him. And although he's still terrified and he has no idea how he's going to help, he knows he has to help in some way. So you really get to see another side to Neville that's very courageous and honorable.

Q: Can you tell me what was your favorite scene in the latest film and why?
Matthew: The final fight scene in the Ministry of Magic when we're in the Prophecy Room. There was a lot of running about and colliding into each other and jumping off high platforms and things like that. It was really active and I've never really done anything like that before. It was an immense amount of fun.

Q: Who would you say is your favorite Harry Potter character?
Matthew: My favorite characters are Lupin and Sirius Black, the older powerful wizards whose pasts no one really knows about. I love it when they come to the rescue. And I love those two in particular because of how they were always practical jokers when they were younger and how they still like to have a laugh with the younger kids.

Q: Now how many times have you read the books yourself?
Matthew: I've read the first five once, but I read the fifth one twice and the sixth one once.

Q: What would you like to happen at the end of book seven?
Matthew: I don't know. I'd like it to come to a conclusion. I don't want there to be any lingering questions. And I would like to say that I think Harry should die because I think that that would round out the series quite nicely. Obviously, I think Voldemort should die with him. But I think it would round out the series well. There wouldn't be any questions left afterwards like "What happens to Harry now? Does he go on to be famous?" But it’s up to J.K. Rowling and however she wants to finish it.

Q: What's your favorite part about being on the set?
Matthew: Just being able to forget about your life for a moment. It's strange to get all dressed up and have all this makeup on. You're around all the props. You see the other characters. It's very bizarre. But it's a great way to forget about everything and become somebody else for a time because being yourself can get a bit boring sometimes. It's fun to be someone else for a bit.

Q: What would you say was your most embarrassing moment on the set?
Matthew: I don't know, really. We did this scene where I had to be splattered with a lot of gunk from this cactus that Neville has and David, the director, wanted me to do it in such a way that I had to stay perfectly still when this stuff splattered me. He thought it would be funnier if there were no reaction from Neville whatsoever. So I just got hit in the face and I had to act stunned. But because this thing came out so quickly, I jumped back from it every time we tried to shoot the scene. And the more I did it, the more frustrated I got and the more I jumped. It was really embarrassing. Every time I did it, they had to get me a new jumper and get me washed because I was covered in green sludge. But we got through it in the end.

Q: What was your favorite scene to film?
Matthew: Probably just the scenes where we were just laughing all the time. There was a time when Rupert had to say a line in the dormitory and he just couldn't do it. He just could not get the line out and we laughed and laughed in each take. We did so many takes that I thought at some point the director was going to start getting mad. But he couldn't stop laughing either. He just found it so funny. The whole crew and cast were in stitches! That was probably one of the most fun moments.

Q: What do you think you have in common with your character?
Matthew: I'm very forgetful. I forget to do a lot of things around the house. I always forget to do schoolwork. I'm clumsy as well. I knock things over and my parents always say, "Oh, that was a Neville moment."

Q: How would you say you're different from your character?
Matthew: Well, I'd like to think I had a bit more courage than him when I was in school. But you'll see in the new films how courageous he actually is. So I'm not too different in that respect now. I'm also a little better at schoolwork. When I do it. I'm a bit more accomplished in that department.

—Interview by Marie Morreale

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