In a new interview with Mirror Online, Matthew talks about Our Boys and his life post-Harry Potter and how he still disagrees when people call hima “hunk” and more. Of his reaction to the recent obsession with his looks he says:
“It was just a few good camera angles in New York,” he says. “I wasn’t attractive when I was growing up and I don’t think I am now. It was never something I associated with me, ever, so it came as a shock. It was never, like, ‘Let me take these ears off then you’ll see’.”
He says: “Julia Roberts says it in Notting Hill. ‘Eventually, people will realise that I can’t act and I’m not that good-looking’ and stuff. You’re just thinking, ‘Tomorrow they’re going to figure it out.’ […] It was very nice to hear it said about me – very humbling, you know – it’s just a lot of pressure.”
In the interview he discusses Our Boys and how his character Mick, has some similarities with Neville:
There are a lot of similarities between my character Mick and Neville – he’s the butt of a lot of jokes. He’s a soldier, talking about sex and being overtly racist and sexist because he doesn’t know any better. Potter fans won’t expect that but hopefully he’s not too far detached that they get upset about it.”
The play is set in a military hospital and the central theme is the camaraderie between the sick soldiers. “The research was meticulous,” says Matt. “We had a lecture from an officer about the army of 1984 – it was a peacetime army. Lads were in Germany or sunbathing in Cyprus. But it’s also about the boredom of the 80s. People only had three TV channels, Betamax and a Walkman. They have to entertain themselves by playing pranks on people.”
He also talks about some of his jobs when he was first starting out:
“The fact that I was in Sharpe – for one scene as ‘boy in workplace’ – that is the pinnacle of my career to him because I was with the King of Yorkshire, Sean Bean. [see a photo here]
“I was the face of Warburton’s when I was little too. That’s a close second.”
Read the full interview at the link above or in the press archive.