Magic Matt

In his stunning cover shoot for the Attitude’s June Issue – a swimwear and underwear – Matt admits he’s reveling in his newfound heartthrob status. Over a 10-page feature, the 25-year-old speaks candidly about the physical transformation that’s had everyone talking since the Potter films wrapped in 2011, and the intense training regime he’s been adhering to in preparation for his new role.

It seemed a day just like any other on July 11, 2011, when a then-21-year-old Matthew Lewis stepped out on to the red carpet of Leicester Square to the collective sound of a thousand jaws hitting the concrete. The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premiere signalled not only the end of JK Rowling’s multi-billion dollar franchise, but also the young Yorkshire boy’s journey from hapless puberty victim Neville Longbottom to sparkly-toothed leading man and bona fide man-crush. And we’ve all been hooked ever since.

But as the world strained under the weight of indelible screams of “Neville gawt hawwwt”, Matt was already plotting his post-Potter career, which has since included stints on the West End stage and starring roles in BBC shows like The Syndicate and black comedy drama Bluestone 42, in which the 25-year-old fulfils a long-time fantasy (both for himself and us) playing Afghanistan squaddie Corporal Gordon ‘Towerblock’ House. Having only just moved down from his native Leeds (where actual buses have been named after him) to the capital, he’s wasted no time scoring his biggest role since Hogwarts in big budget romantic drama Me Before You - the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ 2012 best-seller, which deals with love, disability and has seen the young star transform his already mightily-impressive physique into dizzying levels of ‘ripped’.

“A moving camera’s fine! Still cameras... fuckin’ hate ‘em,” he jokes with characteristic modesty while shedding his kit during our shoot in London, as Attitude scoffs a McDonald’s at the sidelines, wondering what it would actually take for us to commit to the painstaking fitness regime Matt’s been putting himself through (answer: nothing on God’s sweet earth). But for the self-described homebody, the scale of this newfound attention is still taking some getting used to. A typically down-to-earth Northerner with a relaxed charm and delightfully potty-mouth, there’s no hint of the ego that should dog a man who’s spent half his life at the centre of one of the biggest franchises of all time. Still only 25 and despite being in the business for two decades already, Matt has the budding attitude of someone who takes nothing for granted; that being a world famous child star is no guarantee of success in the adult world. But given his career trajectory so far, and the way we have to mop ourselves up off the floor on the conclusion of his shoot, that success seems nothing more than a dead cert...