Bluestone 42 casts Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis in series 2
Neville Longbottom is long gone as the 24-year-old actor signs up to play ammunition technician Gordon House, nicknamed Towerblock
Judging by this picture, Matthew Lewis is putting his Harry Potter days well and truly behind him (as if we'd let him). The 24-year-old actor, best known for playing hapless Neville Longbottom in JK Rowling's wizarding franchise, has signed up to play an army ammunition technician nicknamed Towerblock in the second series of BBC3's Afghanistan-set comedy Bluestone 42.
Lewis's character, Gordon House, is described as a "smart and affable butcher's son from Leeds with a penchant for danger," and will join Captain Nick Medhurst and his bomb disposal unit when the show returns for a Christmas special and a six-part series early next year.
“I'm really excited to be joining the cast of Bluestone 42," said Lewis. "I watched the first series and remember thinking that I'd love to be part of a show like that. It's a comedy and it aims to make people laugh but it's not trivialised. The issues that are dealt with are serious issues.
"I'm playing Corporal Gordon House who is effectively Captain Medhurst's number two. He's a Yorkshireman with a bit of a class chip on his shoulder, but he's a great bloke and a very good soldier. He's a lad and loves getting stuck in with the banter – especially giving Medhurst stick for being a posh public schoolboy."
Executive producer, Stephen McCrum, added “We're thrilled that Matthew Lewis, star of Harry Potter, the most successful British franchise of all time, is to join the cast of Bluestone 42 in his comedy debut. Matthew is a wonderful talent and we are delighted he will be part of this incredibly exciting second series, joining Nick Medhurst (Oli Chris) and the team in Afghanistan in the search for better food, more dangerous home-made games and, oh yes, the fight against IEDs.”
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Since the final Harry Potter film was released in 2011, Lewis has appeared in BBC1's The Syndicate, and forged a successful stage career including last year's West End production of Our Boys which co-starred Laurence Fox and Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill.
Series two of Bluestone 42 begins filming later this month.
