“I found it really uncomfortable in America at the final Harry Potter premiere because it became a “thing” in the press that I looked very different,” says Matthew of the 2011 event that marked the end of his time in the most successful film franchise ever. “I didn’t think [my transformation] was more drastic than any other kid’s. I’d had to wait until I was 21 to have my teeth done, which was pretty s**t! But I didn’t like being scrutinized, so I hired a publicist and said: “look, after this, can I just go away for a bit? Can I just go home?”
But things didn’t exactly calm down for the Leeds-born actor when he got back to Yorkshire. “Soon after, I turned the Christmas lights on in a little town near my home and then went into this church hall, and hundreds of kids stormed in zombie-style,” laughs Matthew. “The police had to get me and my mum out of there in a riot van.”
“It’s like I lead a double life,” says Matthew. “I can enjoy the fun things that come with acting but then I try to be as normal as humanly possible and see all my old mates who don’t give a s**t about what I do. I’ve taken my best mate to all the Potter premieres, but he’s only seen two of the films because he fell asleep. We’ll go to a pub quiz and they find it hilarious when a Harry Potter question comes up as I never know the answers.”
Thanks to LlamaDuckies for the image!