Videos: Matthew Lewis and Jason Isaacs discuss Deathly Hallows Part 2

Harry Potter stars Matthew Lewis and Jason Isaacs, who embody Neville Longbottom and Lucius Malfoy on the big screen, chatted about the final film and more with Empire Magazine. Matthew Lewis dishes about his character’s heroic turn in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 while Jason Isaacs’ Lucius Malfoy has a decidedly different journey. He talks about how the Death Eater becomes broken down with his little stint in Azkaban and the return and rise of Voldemort.

While Matthew Lewis only had one short but memorable line in Deathly Hallows Part 1, playing the role of Neville as a leader of sorts in the final film was a thrill for the 21-year-old actor.

“Part Two is where all the good stuff is and it’s been definitely massive to shoot. As an actor, you always want to feel like what you’re doing is making a difference to the story. So to have this character to play in Part Two was just brilliant. All the stuff that was in the book was kept in there, pretty much. David [Yates] is such a fan of the stories anyway: He’s always been so keen to keep it as close as possible, which hasn’t been an easy task for him over the years. But with two films it meant that we could keep it closer than we have been able to before. And so most of the stuff for Neville in the book is in there and also a couple of added things,” Lewis said.

“The book’s focused very heavily on Harry Potter. But the film keeps coming back to the students and the teachers and what’s going on. And the whole war is very real. It is really life and death. I won’t give too much away, but the whole thing for me was just so much fun because there was so much in. There was a bit of light humor at the beginning; a bit of, sort of, French Resistance stuff,” Matthew Lewis revealed. “But then the war kicks off and there’s action to do and there’s a lot of drama as well because there are people dying around us, and Neville’s in charge of these people who are dying. I just got to do so much different stuff. It was great.”

For Jason Isaacs, the last several films have been a fantastic acting process while showcasing Lucius’ decline from power-hungy, pure-blood enthusiast to a hollow, defeated man. Over the course of the eight films, Isaacs delved deeply into his character while relishing his dark journey.

“He became more and more believable to me, oddly. He got the pay-off that he absolutely deserved. He was this man who was heavily invested in his own power and status and looking forward to Voldemort coming back so he could take his rightful place by his side. But when Voldemort came back he saw Lucius for the vain, narcissistic power-mad vacuum that he was, and called him on it, and constantly humiliated him. Then you saw what he was like when his back was against the wall: He would turn on, and use, his son and his wife. Then he got sent to prison, and was broken by the process in prison. He came back, and literally did not know his place in the world. He couldn’t even occupy his own house as the head of the household.”

Read the entire Jason Isaacs interview and Matthew Lewis discussion and also check out their videos!

Jason Isaacs video:

Matthew Lewis video: