Harry Potter’s Tom Felton On Why Playing Draco Malfoy Did Him 'No Favours With The Girls' At School
Tom Felton rose to stardom after playing conniving, ice-blonde student Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise, aka the arch-rival to the 'Boy Who Lived' (Daniel Radcliffe).
Now, the Harry Potter alum has revealed that despite his fame in the popular fantasy series, playing the 'evil' character didn't exactly make his dating life at school any easier.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, he said: 'Some people really struggle with the idea that I wasn't this special, popular kid, but I was walking around with dyed hair and played an evil wizard. It wasn't cool. It did me no favours with the girls.'
The actor, who made his West End debut last week in 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Criterion Theatre in London, starred in all eight Harry Potter movies, based on novels written by J. K. Rowling.
Speaking about landing his role as the villainous Malfoy, he told the news outlet: 'I reckon I got the part because I was nonchalant and had no idea what anyone was on about.
'Wizards in cupboards under the stairs? And with three older brothers, you learn to be confident quickly. I think Chris Columbus, the director, recognised this slight disinterest and arrogance in me, which he thought could work for Malfoy.'
He continued: 'I didn't have to do 10 pages of dialogue to audition. All I did was turn up as a snotty kid who looked right and I got the part.'
Referring to his Harry Potter character's appearance, Felton previously told People: 'If you're asking me will I dye my hair blonde again to be Draco, abso-bloody-lutely.
'Either [him or his father, Lucius]. I'll play Draco's kid if you really want! Any chance to be a Malfoy again would be greatly accepted.'
Felton might not have had much luck with girls at school, but he certainly made an impression on his Potter co-star Emma Watson.
The 32-year-old actor, who starred as Hermione Granger in the eight-long franchise recalled 'falling in love' with Felton, as per the Daily Mail.
Discussing Felton, Watson - who was 11 when the first Harry Potter film premiered - recalled: 'I walked into the room where we were having tutoring. The assignment that had been given was to draw what you thought God looked like, and Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard.'
'And I just don't know how to say it – I just fell in love with him. I used to come in every day and look for his number on the call sheet, it was number seven, and if his name was on the call sheet, it was an extra exciting day.He was three years above me and so for him he was like, "You're like my little sister."'
While Watson insisted her crush wasn't reciprocated, Felton said during the same interview that he was aware of her feelings.
'I think I was in the hair and make-up chair and someone said something along the lines of, "Yeah, she had a crush on you,'" he recalled. 'I became very protective over her. Yeah, I've always had a soft spot for her and that continues to this day. There's always been something that's like, I don't know, a kinship.'
In 2011, Watson told Seventeen Felton 'was my first crush'.
She said: 'We talked about it - we still laugh about it. We are really good friends now, and that's cool.'
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