By: Lynn Barker
Bad boy Draco talks alternate scenes we’ll never see!
With the last of the “Potter” films hitting theaters this Friday, we’re asking some of the cast about their reflections, fave moments and what is ahead for the 20-something actors after ten years playing the same iconic characters. Harry’s Hogwarts nemesis Draco (Tom Felton) had lots to say about keeping the cast close and future plans as well as giving us some spoilers on the final film.
Draco - Harry Potter
Kidzworld: First, if you could play another Potter character, who would it be? Did you audition for other characters?
- Tom: I did. I hadn’t a clue who Harry or Draco were so I was pretty clueless. I thought I’d have made a great Hagrid (laughter). But, not really. I’ve had so much fun with the Malfoy family. The only part I’d possibly consider would be my dad in 20 years on the remake or something like that. I couldn’t see myself in another character’s shoes. The actors they did get for Harry, Ron and all the rest are remarkable and I certainly couldn’t match their performance.
Kidzworld: Your whole adolescence was on screen in the Potter films. Was there a single most embarrassing moment?
- Tom: Oh, there’s a handful. Where do I start? Yeah, the most embarrassing thing for an actor when you are surrounded by other actors you look up to is messing up your lines. There was one time that I did it very noticeably. I guess it was the third film or possibly the second one, there was a nice closing line for Draco towards the end of it and I couldn’t get it out for love or money.
- I don’t know what it was. Sometimes you over-rehearse. I’m not sure what it was but I couldn’t do it and I actually started crying. I was about 13 or 14. “So, sorry. I can’t do it!” and Chris Columbus, the director, was the ultimate director for kids and he really knows how to talk to them. (He said) “It’s fine. It’s fine. We got it. It’s in the can. It’s gonna be in the movie”. They cut it out at the last minute but I learned very quickly from that. So that was pretty embarrassing. I don’t know why I shared that (laughter).
Kidzworld: Do you have any trouble with fans just not liking your character and dissing you or avoiding you when they see you out and about?
- Tom: We have hundreds of kids and adults doing tours around the Harry Potter set and actually no seven and unders wanted to have anything to do with me which was, at first, a little worrying. They always get excited when they’d meet Daniel, Rupert and Emma and then hide behind their parents’ legs when it comes to me. I probably lay it on too thick. I’m ultra-friendly. Jason [Issacs] does it best. He just stays in character and they love him. I like to take it as a compliment over the years that minors were pretty terrified of me. No one has shouted abuse at supermarkets yet.
Draco - Harry Potter Portrait
Kidzworld: With the films over now, will you be doing more with your music careerwise?
- Tom: Not really. I don’t want to turn music into some kind of career. I think it will suck the life and passion out of it if I do that. It’s always something I’ve done to kill time especially when I’m waiting for scenes to be set up and things like that. I want to keep it that way. It’s something I’m very passionate about and I hope to help other young musicians somewhere along the line but me personally, I don’t plan on doing anything with that.
WARNING: BELOW THIS LINE LIE SPOILERS!!!
Kidzworld: During the final battle, Draco basically ignores Lucius. Do you think their relationship was strained from that point on? In the epilogue, he (Draco) seems like a loving parent.
- Tom: Yeah. It’s open for interpretation. It was in the book and, hopefully, we’ve done that in the film as well. That’s not a bad way to look at it. I think at that moment when he gets called over, his dad’s voice doesn’t do much to him. It almost makes him say “I’m not moving”. But, when his mom calls him over, I suppose it’s like in real life really, sons have a soft spot for their moms. If my mom asked me to do something, I’d do it for sure.
- I suppose that’s the moment where he realizes that Lucius hasn’t quite been the wonderful influence that he once thought he was. Throughout his life, Draco has wanted to be Lucius and almost in that moment he realizes, “I don’t want to be anything like him” so yeah that’s nice. It’s 19 years later and he’s a lot better parent than Lucius was I’m sure.
Draco - Harry Potter Poster
Kidzworld: There is a change in the film in the scene in the great hall where it’s almost like Draco’s parents defected, versus just walking away. What do you think about this scene in the film and the way it originally read?
- Tom: Yeah, I confess. We actually shot a few different things. There was so much going on that David [Yates, director] wanted to shoot a few different scenarios to see which was going to play the best. There’s a couple where Draco is just walking away by himself and another with myself and Narsissa in the Great Hall and another classic where Lucius got trampled and you never saw him again so I was really intrigued to find out which bit they used. There’s something nice and very harrowing about watching them just walk away especially when it’s mother and son and Lucius sort of stumbles away; a classic example of the Malfoy trait that survival is key. Jason says it best when Lucius has to climb over his son’s and wife’s twitching corpses to end up sitting at the right hand of Voldemort. That’s exactly what they’re about I think. Their number one instinct is survival so I think that’s what they’re doing there.
Kidzworld: What did Lucius get trampled by?
- Tom: Death Eaters. There was this “Charge!” moment and the Death Eaters just ran over him. It was fantastic.
Kidzworld: What was your reaction when you saw the aging process that they did to you?
- Tom: Shocking! I mean come on? Nineteen years and they’re basing it on Jason Isaacs. He looks like his dad. It was a lot of fun and cool. They prepared for months. They wanted pictures of my dad and my brothers and did loads and loads of endless tests. I think it (my old-age make-up) was a message to kids to say that crime doesn’t pay and that anyone with a goatee musn’t be trusted. I’m not sure. It was a lot more fun to take it off at the end of the day and go back to my normal age. It was one of the final scenes that I shot so it was a nice way of finishing off for me, especially since it was the day I was the kid being put on the train. It was kind of like my life flashing before my eyes but it was a nice way to wrap up.
Kidzworld: Also, in the epilogue, Draco’s on screen wife is someone you know personally. Can you talk about how she was cast for the film?
- Tom: Sure, the lovely Jade (Olivia, a stunt assistant on the film). Both of our arms were twisted to get her involved, first mine then hers. David Heyman, the producer came to me and then David Yates loved the idea and followed up. Jade is actually my real girlfriend and has been for three and a half years so it was a lot of fun onscreen to play hubby and wife for a bit and have a kid for three days. Three days is a good amount of time (laughter). It’s perfect because, by the end of it, it’s like “See you later”. It was very nice to be a little family for a while.
Kidzworld: Did that give you any pressure to think about the next step for the two of you?
- Tom: Wooooo. But I was saying to someone earlier that I was really looking forward to showing my kids the films and they were like “When did you have kids?” That’s probably decades away.
Kidzworld: What are you feeling right now? Relief? Expectation for the future?
- Tom: Yeah I’m really intrigued to see what fans make of the final film. They’ve been waiting for this a long time. I feel like this is the reason we made the last seven films so we could get to this final chapter so we’re very excited about that. Obviously all good things come to an end and we’re just excited to end on a high note. Personally, it’s a nerve-wracking but equally exciting time. I don’t know what’s around the corner so that’s always something fun.
Kidzworld: So have you already planned some cast reunions? Do you text or Facebook to keep in touch?
- Tom: Yeah, of course. Most of us are in four different corners of the world at one time but I was very lucky to finally see Daniel’s show [“How to Succeed in Business” on Broadway] last night. For those who haven’t seen it it’s unbelievable, very strange seeing him up there after ten years seeing him as Harry but (he does) an unbelievable job.
- But, of course our friendship or relationship isn’t going to die regardless of how many years we spend apart from one another because we had a very unique experience and we did it together and I feel very lucky to have a dozen or so other youngsters who have shared the experience with me.
