Digital Spy have released the second part of their interview with Matthew Lewis where they continue to discuss the Potter films. You can read the full interview at the previous link or in the press archive.
How would you describe the Neville we see in the final film?
“This year Neville’s been living underground. He’s this reluctant resistance leader who has stepped out from Harry’s shadow and taken over his role. He didn’t want to – he’d much rather just get by and keep his head down. But he realizes that no one else is going to do it and so he had to step forward. That’s the great thing about Neville. It’s the reason why he is in Gryffindor – no matter how scared he is of the situation, he still does the right thing. He’s got amazing loyalty and this courage. So he sees that no one else is going to take take over, so he’s got to do it. He becomes the leader that everyone trusts and he leads the students into battle in the end. From there, I got to do so much stuff. I got to do a few traditional sort of Neville light-hearted humor moments, but then a lot of action and stunts – which I’d never got to do before – and then some real emotional bits. At the end of the day, it’s war. These young kids are on the frontline and they are dying. David Yates (director) didn’t shy away from that. He kept it all in and you get to see, every time one of the students dies, Neville feels it. It’s great for an actor.”