Tom Felton Reached Out To The New Draco Malfoy in HBO's HARRY POTTER, and His Message is Pure Class
The Harry Potter torch is officially being passed, and Tom Felton is making sure the next generation doesn't have to carry it alone.
In a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Felton confirmed that he reached out to Lox Pratt, the young actor stepping into the Draco Malfoy role for HBO's upcoming Harry Potter series.
Felton, who originated the role across all eight films from 2001 to 2011 and is currently playing an older Draco in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, said the gesture felt necessary.
"I've sent word, yes," Felton told Horowitz. "I think it's really important. It's very different — we were entering things that don't exist; there's quite a lot of weight now.
“So the last thing I'm gonna do is offer anything other than say, 'Here's my phone number. Here's my address.' To his parents as well as him, and to anyone else there."
He joins Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in welcoming the new cast, but Felton's message comes with a refreshingly hands-off approach. Rather than loading Pratt down with advice, he kept it simple and open-ended:
"Have as much fun as possible, take as many pictures as you can, steal as many props as you can — they'll be worth a fortune. But also, if you do need a word of encouragement or questions to ask, I'm there."
It's a generous move from someone who understands the weight of the role better than almost anyone. The HBO series, which drops its first trailer this week ahead of a Christmas release, plans to dedicate one season per book, meaning this cast is signing on for at least a decade of their lives.
Felton also reflected on just how wildly different the landscape is for young actors today compared to when he and Radcliffe were kids on set. Social media didn't exist back then, and the production itself was practically from another era.
"It didn't exist, did it? There was literally physical film cameras," he said. "It took me a while the other day, someone said, 'How were the films shot?' And I was like, 'Was it film?' It's like, 'Of course it was film.'
“This is in an era where the guy holding the mic boom, Tommy, was about 70, one eye open, rolls a cigarette with one hand, smokes it, while we're on a broomstick. That's how Daniel and I grew up learning quidditch. 25 years later, we're on Broadway together! That's mental."
They are quite literally on Broadway together right now. Felton is starring in Cursed Child while Radcliffe performs his critically praised one-man show Every Brilliant Thing just down the street.
"Of course, Daniel Radcliffe's play is only 400 meters from mine," Felton said. "I'm playing Draco, he's opening what I think is one of the best shows on Broadway other than ours."
Twenty-five years in and the Harry Potter universe keeps expanding, but it's moments like these, one Draco texting the next, that make the whole thing feel a lot more human.