Matthew Talks ‘The Syndicate’ with Yorkshire Evening Post
He’s best known for his movie role as a pal of schoolboy wizard Harry Potter.
Now Leeds-born actor Matthew Lewis is aiming to sprinkle some magic on new BBC TV drama The Syndicate.
Penned by Leeds writer Kay Mellor, it tells the story of workers at a cut-price supermarket whose lives are turned upside down after they jointly scoop a Lottery jackpot.
And today Matthew revealed how his involvement with the five-part series represented something of a trip down memory lane.
He said: “I’ve worked with Kay before but I was very young – she cast me in the first thing I ever did back when I was five so I don’t remember it a lot.
“It was a real pleasure to work on this with her because she writes so effortlessly and she has such a vivid image in her head of what she wants and she knows exactly how to convey that to the actor.”
Matthew also admitted that Jamie – the character he plays on The Syndicate – is a world away from Neville Longbottom, the good guy he portrayed in all eight Harry Potter movies.
He said: “Jamie can come across as a bit of an idiot, a bit of a scumbag, because he can be selfish and becomes pretty extravagant and arrogant when he receives his money. He doesn’t react well to anyone in authority and can be very confrontational.
“He does some pretty nasty things but he’s not all bad – he’s been let down by anybody who ever meant anything to him and he makes some lousy decisions.
“It just so happens that his bad decisions have had far-reaching consequences and he’ll have to take responsibility for that.”
Matthew’s fellow cast members on The Syndicate include Timothy Spall, Joanna Page and Matthew McNulty.
An empty Grade II listed auction house on East Parade in Leeds city centre, Bramham Park near Wetherby and Swinton Park in North Yorkshire were among the locations used during filming.
The series starts on BBC1 at 9pm next Tuesday, March 27.