Super Megafest 2013: Tom Felton Panel

Astghik Cin Poghosyan ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff
Media by: Tori DeYeso ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff
People all around the world are loyal fans of the Harry Potter franchise and the appearance of Tom Felton in this year’s Super Megafest panels brought the fans back together.
Once the panel began, the fans took charge and bombarded the much loved actor with a variety of questions regarding his experience shooting the films, his reaction to the franchise as well as encounters with fans.
When Harry Potter first began and Tom got cast as the role of Draco Malfoy, he hadn’t realized that it would evolve in the magnitude it has. Looking back, Tom felt that he was really lucky being in the right place at the right time. During the filming process, the franchise had passed through the hands of four different directors, Chris Columbus (1–2), Alfonso Cuarón (3), Mike Newell (4), David Yates (5–8) and it has been a phenomenal experience for Tom with all four of them. While working with Columbus, Tom commented on how it never felt like a chore since Columbus was very good at working with children. Felton himself is very excited about the recently announced ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ that already has received a filming contract with Warner Brothers but sadly remarks that Draco Malfoy won’t make an appearance. When asked by a fan, Tom mentioned that all directors did a spectacular job with the original franchise and he would like to see David Yates direct the spin off.
Felton commented that he is ‘musically inclined’ and he always carries his guitar with him everywhere. Growing up, he took part in choir and musical performances and hence music has been a large part of his life. When asked about what he thought about the re-creation of the franchise ‘A Very Potter Musical’ by StarKid, he joked that Lauren Lopez (actress who plays Draco Malfoy in AVPM) should have played Draco in the movies and he should have played him in the musical. Tom remarked that he was fascinated that Harry Potter has been an inspiration for other people to create their own stories based off of the franchise. He did mention that some of the inspired artwork was ‘whacky’ such as FanFiction. When asked what his favorite pairing of Draco Malfoy was in FanFiction he answered ‘DrApple’ which was a pairing that was prompted from the sixth movie of the franchise where Draco is always carrying an apple with him. He added if there was a further remake of the movies he would love to play the role of Draco’s father, Lucius Malfoy.

Related: Super Megafest 2013: Manu Bennett Panel

According to Tom, being part of the Harry Potter cast is like being part of a large family as cliché as it might sound. There is familiarity that comes with growing up with people on set and he quoted that the filming of Harry Potter was like his school years for him. Even though the actors don’t actively keep in touch, they still share a bond that comes with growing up with their characters.
With the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who being today, Felton commented that it was something he grew up with and had been part of his life forever. Although he loves all the reincarnations of The Doctor, his favorite one is Matt Smith who he mentioned he’s close friends with. Following the ‘English’ themed questions he mentioned that he loves London since it was such a historical country and that he took his tea like ‘builders tea’, strong with a bit of milk.
Felton has recently moved to LA as he prefers the warm weather in comparison to the London cold. He starts shooting his new TV series in February and is attempting to adapt to the Los Angeles life style.