Harry Potter actor says mates 'keep him grounded'

Child actor Lenny Rush said his friends were "not very impressed" by his TV success, which helped keep him "grounded".

In September, HBO announced that he would be playing Dobby in season 2 of the upcoming Harry Potter series.

It has been a busy few years for the 17-year-old from Burnham-on-Crouch, having passed his driving test, completed his GCSEs and turned in a Bafta-winning performance in BBC's Am I Being Unreasonable?.

"My mates, they're not very impressed by it, which is a good thing, because it keeps me grounded," he said, but clarified his peers were "so supportive".

"You know what? I just roll with it, I think. I still can't wrap my head around a lot of it. A lot of it is just happening, but I'm having the best time."

On his Dobby casting, he said: "I still can't believe it. I mean, I love it still, and I loved it when I was younger.

"I remember going to the Warner Brothers tour when I was younger, and the next time I went to the Warner Brothers studio, it was auditioning for Dobby. So yeah, it's pretty mental, but I'm so excited."

In September, he appeared in season 6 of the TV series Slow Horses, playing the witty teenager Reese Nesmith.

Speaking about the Apple TV show, he said: "I watched it anyway, so it's literally a dream come true.

"I had the best time ever. It was just amazing. It's something that I'll look back on and think, 'wow, you know, that was a proper good one'.

"Reese is definitely a handful; that's one way to put it. I loved reading the scripts, they're some of the most fun scripts I've read. And yeah, it was a lot of fun, sort of effing and jeffing."

Speaking to BBC Essex presenter Sonia Watson, he described being "starstruck" when he met Gary Oldman.

"I didn't keep my cool one bit," Rush said. "He was just the loveliest man and so normal.

"He is this massive Hollywood A-lister, but he's so down to earth and, without him even giving me advice, I learned a lot from him [by] just watching him and just how he was on set."

Rush got a breakthrough at age 10 playing Tiny Tim in the 2019 miniseries A Christmas Carol, co-produced by the BBC.

At age 13, he was described as a "scene stealer" in the BBC's dark comedy Am I Being Unreasonable?.

At age 14, he then became the first child presenter for the Children in Need live show.

He said: "I do love adult comedy. They're always fun... but it's also really fun to just explore other bits and dramas.

"I've done A Woman of Substance this year, which is a Channel 4 period drama. I really enjoyed doing something totally different."

In the future, Rush said he is looking to create his own show.

"I'd love to do that. Writing and directing," he continued. "Something that I can really get my teeth into."

Rush hit another milestone on Sunday evening, appearing in his first lead role in The Reluctant Vampire, which airs on BBC One.

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