Although Matthew Lewis had acted in a few television productions in the 1990s, albeit in bit parts, his career received a major boost after he was plucked from relative obscurity at an open audition in his hometown of Leeds and cast as shy Hogwarts student Neville Longbottom in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," released in 2001. Although the character started out in the background of events, through the course of the eight films (and seven books, of course) he flourished in importance, developing into one of the most fascinating characters in the entire series. As a member of Dumbledore's Army, a group established by the three main characters in the series Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, Neville becomes an increasingly reliable figure within the organization and in the films as a whole. In his first non-"Harry Potter" role since the series began, Lewis played a determined music journalist in the 2010 independent romantic drama "The Sweet Shop." Lewis next co-starred in the comedy series "Bluestone 42" (BBC 3, 2013-15) before appearing in the fourth and fifth seasons of period thriller "Ripper Street" (BBC 2012-16) and the second season of crime drama "Happy Valley" (BBC 2014- ). Lewis appeared in the romantic drama "NMe Before You" (2016) and thriller "Terminal" 2018) before returning to television in a supporting role on drama "Girlfriends" (ITV 2018- ).