All Creatures Great and Small's Nicholas Ralph on animal co-stars
All Creatures Great and Small is coming back to Channel 5 soon for a fifth outing and following its success, season one has been added to Netflix. Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis is after Helen Alderson’s (played by Rachel Shenton) heart as Hugh Hulton.
In the series, he loses out on winning Helen as her heart belongs to James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph). His time on the show was short-lived but he reflected on his own experiences whilst filming and opened up on why his character became so likeable.
Matthew explained how he enjoyed that Hugh was "not maliciously ignorant of his privilege" and "he is a genuinely nice guy". Fans were shocked at how much the star had changed since his breakout role as Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.
The 35-year-old said he liked how Hugh was "very different from things that I’ve done before" in an interview with Masterpiece for PBS. He explained he was able to play around with the character and squeeze out some more endearing and charming qualities.
He added: "Also, I enjoy losing myself in characters that are very unlike me, and Hugh was so different from me."
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The actor, from Leeds, said he had always wanted to do a new accent, revealing he found playing characters from his own home city more difficult.
He called it a "constant battle" to make sure he is staying in character.
When he has an opportunity to absolutely lose himself in a new character, it is where he has the most fun.
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He explained: "I can embody this person and play around. And when you’re totally in a scene, something will just happen and you go, 'Whoa, that was amazing. I didn’t expect that to happen, but it felt real, it felt right,' and you get a real giddy feeling. I got a lot of that with Hugh."
Matthew had a lot of praise for the rest of the cast and the ethos of the series, saying everyone wanted to be themselves and the best they could be.
"It was a very selfless production," he recalled.
All Creatures Great and Small returns to Channel 5 later this year
