Matthew-Lewis.com

In a new interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post, Matt talks about his career post-potter and The Rise, also known as Wasteland which is out in the UK beginning tomorrow. The interview began with Matthew talking about his first post-Potter role in the West End play Verdict:

“I guess I wanted to prove that I could do something after Potter,” he explains. “When you come out of a film like that you worry if you are going to work again. You have to shake that off and get the monkey off your back. I had never done theatre before and coming out of a big film, I wanted to go back to basics and see how it goes. I was largely terrible. We didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time and I’d done nothing like it before, so we had some bad reviews. But it was good for me. I picked up the basics and by the end I figured out what theatre was about. Jumping in the deep end like that was a stupid thing to do but I really enjoyed it. I’m very appreciative that they gave me that opportunity. Even though it was difficult at first I knew I had to knuckle down and I came out of that with a renewed confidence.”

On why he chose to accept the role of Dodd: “When I was approached with the script I thought it was brilliant. It is hard to explain the intelligence of it without giving away the ending. I really loved it. It was clever and different and very much something I wanted to be a part of.”

Of his character Dodd in The Rise: “The character of Dodd was really fun for me to play. He is the biggest of all of his mates and very loyal. He’s on the front line but isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. It was so different to Neville. Neville isn’t something I wanted to dwell on and I’m moving away from it now. But at the same time I’m not going to begrudge it because that is what made me and it’s where I came from. There are opportunities that I’ve got now that I wouldn’t have got without it. I wouldn’t ever shy away from talking about it.”

On being able to work in his hometown of Leeds: “Working in Leeds is brilliant for me. I am not a keen traveller in any way. I’ve been around the world with my job and been to many wonderful places but I always want to come home. So for me, to be able to do a job that I love in the city that I love really is a dream come true.”

More may be read in the full interview.