Josh Herdman: ‘I went from Harry Potter actor to cage fighter after the acting work dried up’

Success: Josh Herdman won his debut bout in Romford after he stepped away from acting
Josh Herdman/Twitter

Josh Herdman had his big break aged 13 when he was chosen to play Draco Malfoy’s brutish sidekick Gregory Goyle in the Harry Potter films.

But the 28-year-old from Hampton Hill said that while several other cast members from the movie franchise became Hollywood stars, he decided to take up amateur cage fighting because of a lack of acting work.

Since the final Harry Potter film in 2011, Herdman has had a handful of roles — including in films Piggy and Common People, CCBC TV series Wizards vs. Aliens, and new movie Sink, in which he co-stars with his actor-boxer father Martin of The Bill.

But Herdman, who won his debut cage fight in Romford last month by beating Janusz Walachowski of Poland, said he made an “intentional choice” to step away from acting.

Dried up: Josh Herdman said he turned to cage fighting because of a lack of acting work

“Honestly, there was a lack of work about,” he said. “My dad boxes and I had been doing jiu jitsu for five years so I took it [cage fighting] up as a passion project. It’s really exciting. Knowing someone is training to fight you is a strange feeling — it’s quite addictive.”

Herdman won on points after three rounds of 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in the amateur catchweight (80kg) category and is preparing for his second fight.

After revealing that giving up fast food was the hardest thing about training — “I am a takeaway fiend” — he said he would love to combine his acting and fighting in the future.

“I still have an agent and am auditioning. And if I get offered a lead role I will take it. But I would love to play a cage fighter or a role with martial arts. Seeing as I know how to do it, casting agents wouldn’t have to spend money on training me up,” he said.

Herdman also spoke about the “heartbreak” of missing out on the much bigger role of Dudley Dursley in the Potter films to Harry Melling.

“I went through about four or five rounds for Dudley and got down to the final two but missed out on it. They decided they didn’t like either of us so recast it. I didn’t hear anything for weeks and it was heartbreaking. But then I got a call asking me to audition for Goyle and got that.”

In 2013 film Common People, part of London Live’s Independent Season, Herdman plays a dog walker whose animal defecates on a common and causes an injury to a girl. He said: “It was lovely to film and a nice low-key cast and crew. I am based in London and have somewhat of an affinity with its green spaces.”

Common People will be shown at 10pm tonight on London Live.

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