Tom Felton

0:00From athletic stuff like a full-court pickup game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff like a half-mile stroll. Get those steps in! Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Get business done with the new American Express Graphite Business Cash Unlimited card. With unlimited 2 % cash back on all eligible purchases. Unlimited 5 % cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel Online. and a flexible spending capacity that can grow with your business, you'll have the confidence to keep building.

0:33Apply today and earn a welcome offer of$1 ,500 cash back after you spend$50 ,000 in qualifying purchases on your new card within the first six months of card membership. Terms apply. Learn more at go.amex. Do you remember way back when you were a kid, like was it your idea to say Potter in the way that you specific way you said it or? I don't know how that's become an iconic thing. I certainly had no idea. I have three older brothers so they would always call me something like maggot or what was I also called? Runt. Runt of the pack is over the youngest and the shortest considerably I don't remember ever thinking about it for a second but Potter it just got more and more venomous Prepare your ears humans Happy, Sad, Confused begins

1:28Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Thanks as always for checking me out, checking the podcast out on Spotify, on YouTube. However you're doing it, I appreciate you guys. Today on the show, it's Tom Felton. He needs no introduction. Draco Malfoy is on the pod and I couldn't be more thrilled. As you'll see or hear in this conversation, Tom and I go way back, a thousand years. We've been talking to each other basically through the entire run of Potter and to see him now killing it on Broadway. That's right. He is reprising the role of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

2:03I've got a chance to see this on stage. He's amazing. The production is epic. Not only that, he's promoting a new film. It is called They Will Kill You, a rom-com, as you can tell from the title. No, not really. This is a full-on horror action film, Zassi Beats, a whole big ensemble. And it is premiering, as I tape this in just a few days at the South by Southwest Film Festival. I got a chance to see a sneak peek of it. It's going to be a fun one. So check it out when it's out in theaters very, very soon. As for this conversation, well, this was a real honor and kind of emotional and fun, all the things at once for me, because we do have a long history, Tom Felton and I.

2:41And I didn't even realize when he sat down with me today that he really hasn't done this kind of thing before. He's done like, I've even done him on the podcast in a shorter form before, but he's never done like a really extended long form conversation like this, as he told me when he sat down. So I guess consider this Tom Felton's official podcast debut on Happy, Sick, Confused. And again, I couldn't be more honored. As you'll see from this, he's a gem. He just has such a good head on his shoulders. He's so appreciative of the life he has, thanks to Harry Potter, and appreciative of where he's at now, kind of coming full circle with his performance on Broadway.

3:17So for Harry Potter fans out there, for Tom Felton fans, you're going to really dig this one. This is a super fun, great chat with a really special guy, Tom Felton. Before we go to that, one quick reminder, as always, patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused. If you like what I do over there, it helps us make more of what I do over here. Patreon.com slash happy, say I confused, early access, discount codes, merch, all that cool, fun stuff. Check it out. Okay, here we go. Without any further ado, Draco Malfoy himself and me, Tom Felton. Enjoy. Tom Felton. Josh Horowitz. Don't pretend to be professional.

3:55We've not met before. Oh, what a pleasure. I can't get to you. It's good to see you, brother. Watch the mic, mate. I thought you were the professional. I'm not. You should know by now I'm not. I just thought about it as I was washing my hands. I was just thinking, you were definitely one of the first people to ever interview me on a red carpet or a film debut. And I was trying to cast my mind back to when that was. 18 and 23. I had the cloak over me. That's how you did cameras then. And his sense of humor has not improved. It was with Ben Lyons, I believe. on Yahoo? He was Yahooing. I was always MTVing.

4:36We were horrible rivals. Not really. We were friends. But yeah, we always ran into you. But yes, I always remember, well, your kindness and your passion for films and all things pop culture. And I think that's the reason I'm still begrudgingly saying that you are my friend. There's no begrudging of myself. Look at him starting so sweet today. You're throwing me off. It's an English sign of affection, I promise you. I love it. We'll get the pleasantries out of the way. You know I adore you. Thank you for doing this today, my friend. Honestly, as a podcast debut, I couldn't think of a better person to do it with.

5:17I can't believe this. Tom just was telling me this is kind of your podcast debut. You haven't really done this kind of a thing ever. Never. No, not really. I've done lots of radio bits and soundbites for various different films. and various different sort of publications and whatnot, but never, well, I never like sat down with, well, I hope you consider me a friend as well. I do. Yeah, I never sat down. I mean, we did share dog videos the other day. That's the ultimate sign of friendship, I think. Yes, which is why you'll be gentle with me. Yes, I see. Again, part of the master plan. But also, you know, I'm really proud of you.

5:52Congratulations, mate. I remember when Happy Side Confused and all this was all just a new idea. idea and then to see what it's become. Thank you. That's why I belittle you to other people that I met that have been on your podcast and they consider you a serious journalist. You're like, really, that guy? Well, I experienced that the other day because I'm going to go right back at you with the compliments because I got a chance to see you in Cursed Child the other night on Broadway, his Broadway debut. And it was so moving to see. It's like such a special thing to see someone that you've known for a long time and just like literally center stage in a spectacle that big, so celebrated, getting his laurels.

6:34I mean, just talk to me a little bit. Has this been emotional for you just to like take this on and feel the love night after night in a Broadway theater? Hugely. Hugely. Far more than I could reveal. I have to think of miscellaneous objects to prevent myself from... Breaking down. yeah kind of but but if you told us when we were doing the mtv red carpet or whatever it was whatever situation that we've met each other through the years that we would be here not just doing this podcast right now that i would be on broadway with a wand in my hand no one no one with people um coming to see it is i think we all assumed by the end of the eighth film that the wizarding fandom flame would dwindle.

7:26Not because they weren't good enough, but that's how generally the trend is with things. And if you told us then that I would be doing this right now, I would never have believed you. And the response has just been phenomenal. So you, for those that haven't seen it, needless to say, you are playing this character, a little known character named Draco Malfoy. Yeah. Yeah. And you walk on stage and because of that history, there's so much history for you, for the audience. There's rapturous applause immediately. And I mean, does it take, does it take them? You have to take that in, but you have to like really focus up.

8:06Is it hard to kind of like stay in the moment and not break character? For me, not really. I'm very, very grateful and I'm aware of the noise. but i have worked with the best and they've raised me so um shout outs to my previous hogwarts colleagues of you know mr alan rickman and uh um hella mccrory and everyone that's all i'm trying to do there is just lock eyes with harry uh john skelly our actor um and hopefully they they stop they stop making so much noise as quickly as possible so we can get with acting to do which is not really the thing to do but uh no i'm just i'm very very grateful for it and i'm very um i'm just aware of how much that how much it means to people um and it means so much to me i think one of my fears was was reprising my role for those of you who don't know i should give a little can i give a backstory well i was cast in the harry potter films when i was you were in the movies too this is how good his humor gets ladies and gentlemen listen you're as bad as i am my best audience you find yourself as amusing as i find myself this is going to be terrible how long have we got two men just laughing at their own crappy jokes um but yeah i was cast in the harry potter films when i was 11 years old as draco malfoy which you interviewed me when I was probably 12 or 13 when the films came out we were cast for one film and they then decided on a second then decided on a third it was there was never this projection that it would go on for as long as it did which it did so I spent 11 years having my hair dyed every nine days bleach blonde playing draco malfoy um i was quite happy when the hair dying stopped uh and i never in a million years thought and i've been lucky enough to go on and do lots of other things since then um never in a million years would you have said uh you'd be back playing the same character exactly the age that he was when the um the play is set the so the broadway show is essentially draco 19 years on from when we left him in the films which is exactly my age which is 38 by the way which is the age that um the serendipity here is oh it's jason was 38 when he adopted me jason isaacs my father on screen um and i'm 38 adopting aiden close who plays scorpius malfoy who's the most phenomenal um person son actor all the all the above uh and to highlight more serendipity if i can please yesterday was daniel radcliffe's opening right opening show on broadway which has come to huge applause which i luckily got to see in his previews and he's annoyingly fantastic and he deserves every accolade that he gets i share a dressing room you remember why uh when you came to see with john skelly our fabulous harry potter it was his birthday yesterday which my my friend and i ended up decorating his our dressing room with balloons and all sorts of absurd Potter regalia.

11:48And I just thought, what are the chances of that? It makes you believe in fate and something mystical if you don't already, doesn't it? Definitely. And even more so, now I'm here. But you're the one with the questions, so I'll let you talk. No, no. You can talk as long as what a podcast is for, talking. How long have you done it for, can I ask? Twelve years. The podcast? Twelve years of the podcast. 700 plus episodes and it started on it was it was in my office at mtv surreptitiously just putting a microphone up in my office and bringing folks in for long conversations because you know i've done the junkets and the red carpets for so long that oh let's try to have a something of a substantive conversation and um that's why i've been so surprised at all the guests you've had over the years i'm like really with with him the same are there two joshua again it's a british sign of affection.

12:38I've just been celebrating the clout that this sort of thing has. This is not going to go well. If you keep doing this, you're ruining this. Do you remember one of the first things that we did that went viral? I remember it because it was important in my career. Do you remember something called American Talk? Do you remember we did this? Oh, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. First of all, I remember you asking me early on about the happy, sad computer, and I was like, this is a bad idea. That's never going to go anywhere. And here we are. One of your rare mistakes. But the Americanisms I do, and you were the reason why I did it, because I knew I was going to make a buffoon of myself.

13:14But what did you ask me to say? I asked you and your castmates to do, like, to say Americanisms. I gave you, like, silly phrases, like, I'd like an order of chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks, whatever. It was Olive Garden. You do remember. You do remember, yeah. Was it not something about Justin Bieber? No. Yes. You know it well. Also, I think you had to recite the lyrics of Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus' song. And I remember feeling like, why? Why am I doing this? But you did it. You got me. It worked out. You're on Broadway. You have a very disarming charm about you. That's the last nice thing I'm going to say about you during this podcast.

13:53Thank goodness. We'll be right back with more Happy, Sad, Confused. So some of you may think what you see and hear on the podcast is the total me. The truth is I get super stressed like everybody else. Work challenges, the health of a loved one, it can all feel pretty overwhelming. That's why I'm so happy Rula is an ongoing sponsor for Happy, Sad, Confused. It's one thing to find a therapist you like, but then you learn the problem of actually making sure that they take your insurance. Then there are all those online therapy platforms, right? But the truth is that many of them don't work with insurance.

14:29And then you're looking at huge out-of-pocket costs. So guess what? Now you can add money stress to the rest of your problems, not with Rula. Their average copay is just$15 per session. And that's because they partner with over 100 insurance plans. And it's real therapy from licensed professionals. This should be how insurance works after all, right? You use your insurance benefits to maintain your physical health. Why shouldn't you do the same for your mental health? And Rula knows that in order to provide you with the best care, they have to consider your goals and preferences and backgrounds so that you can get a curated list of licensed in-network therapists who are actually aligned with what you need.

15:06Because finding the right therapist can make all the difference. No wait lists. Appointments are available as soon as tomorrow. And you're not on your own, guys. Rula sticks with you throughout the journey. They check in to make sure that your care is helping you as you move forward. So go to Rula.com slash happy to get started today. That's R-U-L-A dot com slash happy for quality therapy that's covered by insurance. Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit Rula dot com slash happy to get started. And after you sign up, you'll be asked how you heard about them.

15:40Please support our show and let them know we sent you. That's Rula, R-U-L-A dot com slash happy. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. From athletic stuff like a full court pick up game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it.

16:09Okay, well we're going to bounce around a lot. But before I forget, because I do want to mention also, while I haven't seen your entire film because they're keeping it under wraps, They Will Kill You is coming. and you are an integral part of this film. This is debuting at South by Southwest. You're going to take a little break from Broadway to go to Boston, yeah? I'm beyond excited. First time to South by Southwest. And a lot of great memories and work, hard work went into making They Will Kill You. March 27th, I believe. It's in cinemas everywhere. And yes, the theater are releasing me just for one day, which is enough because i'll i'll miss the theater otherwise but i'm really excited to celebrate with the with the filmmakers and the rest of the cast as he beats who actually is coming to the show uh tonight she's a huge potter fan although she's no one said did she hide it do they i the first time i googled her name the video came up about her saying that potter was one of the sorry potter That's one of their favorite things.

17:14Her husband is a Slytherin. She's a Hufflepuff. I literally met her husband like two nights ago. Again, serendipity. This is all so bizarre. Okay. Well, what's next, mate? What's going to happen? Do you know what I mean? Is Ben Lyon going to pop out of there? He's going to rappel down. But no, I'm very excited. That's cross-pollinated in its own way. But I loved that the film is such a unique piece of pop culture. Have you seen it? I've seen only they only show me the first about 17 minutes, but it made an impact. You make an impact in those first 17 minutes. I'll say that. How far did you get?

17:50Something might have happened. Okay. You're yeah. Things happened. Zossi kicked some ass. Part of my anatomy fell off. Maybe. It was leprosy kind of. Yeah. I can't say too much, but I will say when I did read that that happened to my character early on in the film, I thought, what's the nothing else to read from here? But they're also that's oh, that's good to know. I wasn't sure if that might be. Look at us just dancing around. I know. I know. Basically, the plot thickens. So I'm very excited to see it with a live audience more than anything. What has been so like obviously this is a full circle moment coming to Broadway playing this character in particular, but like, you know, navigating the I don't know how many years has it been since Potter now?

18:3410, 15 years since the. Yeah, 24, 25 at least is the first one ish. I can guarantee you most fans who are at stage door weren't born when the first When we first met which is absurd. It's not an upset It's amazing to see that the not only is the fandom not going down it's going up Yeah, it's being passed down from generation to generation and I'm just really really proud of that Oh, I should tell you what I gave. You know, it was Radcliffe's opening. Yes night last night for his play. Every Brilliant Thing. Thank you. Yep. Which was really, really fun to watch. It's customary to send flowers, I believe.

19:18Yes, I believe so. I knew Daniel would not enjoy flowers. And as Brits, we like to take the piss. Can I say that? Yes. Take the Mickey, yank your chain as much as possible. As many euphemisms as you want, please. so it was john scaly our harry potter's um idea to send daniel a wand box of his own wand um he thought it was a good idea as a gift i knew that that daniel's not gonna he'll he'll know that i'm taking the piss here so i just what was it dear dude um break legs tonight if all else fails Let's whip this out. Love, Draco. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'm hoping that he had a wry smile.

20:01I'm sure he did. I'm sure he did. So he is, though, I mean, you know, he is a part of the reason you're here on Broadway. That's fair to say, yes? Absolutely, yes. I've seen Daniel in every, well, most, if not all of his productions and Rupert's. And I've been a theater fan my whole life. my mum my mum took me to the theatre uh from a very early age really and uh i've always appreciated the medium more than like any other yeah so it's a bit like live music or or you always have your first gig and this was something that always you don't have pantomime over here do you but it's essentially like child's theater where they sort of make it as accessible as you can do it's not Shakespeare, put it that way.

20:49And that sort of opened the door, floodgate for me to even want to entertain the idea of being an actor. And that which led to me doing a couple of films before Potter and then, you know, the 12 years that took me into my adulthood. And so to get a chance to come back to it is really, is very satisfying. But it did take you a minute to kind of like take the plunge, right? You did it a few years back in England. Yes. A much smaller scale production. That's not saying much. Every production is smaller scale than Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Yes. And I've heard you say that was kind of terrifying those first few weeks of just taking the plunge, yes?

21:31It still is. It still is because it means so much to me. Yeah. I know it sounds cheesy, but it means so much to me. Not just my character, what they think of it, but how much it means to everyone else. uh add that with with live um issues such as like we have 138 people I think that are working in that theater at one point I can't tell you how many trap doors how many wires how many uh illusions that are done in ways that even I'm still not privy to how half of them are done no you're doing stunts live on stage every night it is crazy i mean it's yeah speaking of stunts i mean whoever was there on that night you know there's a there's a moment where i'm supposed to stand on the table in a very draco-esque um poise with a wand and i got a bit cocky that one night and i just fell straight off the table i'll show you the video later but it's uh and when you fall off the table you fall off the table and you have to get back up and stand back on it and know that you looked like a complete prat.

22:46Did you stay in character? Yeah, I mean, yeah, absolutely. Because Draco doesn't fall off tables, doesn't slip off chairs. He shouldn't, no. But also he shouldn't drop his wand, which he has done a few times as well. So, yeah, it's so cool to be able to, like, pick up something. But the difference is as the Draco that I knew was a child and little arrogant shit really Can I say that to it? So how was describing the first script you're playing an arrogant shit pretty much Arrogant slimy little git was that how he was described? Well, so I described him and that's right the rip the revelation and the last films or the last couple where you see ah he's the most bullied out of the right and that's the reason why you know bullies bully etc but now he's 38 years old he's got a kid and his son is rather eccentric yes rather different from the Malfoy lineage yes breaking from the pack a bit has this experience like made you reevaluate Draco a little bit definitely definitely yeah there's a lot of subtext or a lot of different things But to go from when I met Jason, I was 11 years old.

24:00It was a diet, nocturnally. And I was just so impressed with his, you know, his skill and the way he treated people off set, on set, that I really hope that I can emulate even half of what he brought to me that I can do to Aiden and the rest of the wonderful, wonderful cast. I would imagine some of the relationships, especially with the adults, kind of deepens as you get older, as you yourself become an adult. Like a relationship with Jason when you're 15 is one thing, but when you're in your 30s and you are an adult leading a real adult life, has it changed in terms of that relationship or any of the relationships with the older person?

24:42I still call him dad. And I still think I'm Aiden's age. He's 24, I think. But I can see the difference. you kind of revert back when you're around him like well i just feel still one of the one of the kids but also realizing now i i'm a parental sort of figure yeah in the in the in the company at least um but i was back to jason i one of the last chats i had with him before coming here was about doing theater because i hadn't done too much before i've done two great productions 222 and a child's mind, a child's story. Sorry, I forget the name now. But both of them with Matthew Dunstan, both of them were the encouragement that I needed to be able to say that you can do theatre.

25:32Both of those productions, it was mostly text, dialogue, and not a lot of wizardry. yeah fair enough so this is a different kind of on stage you saw it yourself I mean how it's I can't imagine what goes into that show like that I'm seeing and that I'm not seeing and I was saying to you after I saw it I was like I had anxiety just like everybody being I don't know like I don't know how six injuries don't happen a night it feels like it's a very obviously you guys know what you're doing but it's well other than me falling off tables that's where the injury that's you that's your problem I got a bit cocky didn't know before expelliarmus happened uh then again backstage my sense is you're the wild card you're the one to watch out for you're the one that the one to worry about yeah yes well that's the reason i had a chaperone um for for the first few weeks because i think people um generalize the term acting so generally because what like when i did the flash as a tv show that i did for a season in Vancouver which I loved with Grant Gustin you know you're doing nine pages a day of dialogue and you have to learn them forget them move on right learn them forget them yeah move on and it's quite procedural and it's quite you're repeating yourself but in a very different way yes this is sort of repeating yourself literally yes and hoping that one day it all meshes together perfectly which which is unachievable but i do feel we do a bloody good job at trying yeah yeah it's as impressive a production as there it really is it really is you wouldn't believe it we're talking fire we're talking water there's slides and pulleys and i don't even it's mental it's mental they allow it so come and see it for sure do you remember way back when you're a kid like was it your idea to say potter in the way that you specific way you said it or i don't know how That's become an iconic thing.

27:31I certainly had no idea. I Have three older brothers So they would all would always call me something like maggot or What was I also called runt runt of the pack really so the youngest and the shortest considerably So I don't remember ever thinking about it for a second, but Potter It just got more more venomous. Yeah. And now they all do it and even my son Aiden does it better than I do it on stage myself. And all you have to do is say that in the company of a Potter fan and goosebumps and like applause. Something happens. I'm not leaving it to you. I hear your... You have to train me. You just said Potter.

28:14Potter. Potter. Potter. Potter. Potter. Once more. Potter. Potter. Bravo hey good teacher whoo I'm your new understudy but yeah no I never knew any of these things were gonna be iconic lines we even get to say one of the famous loans from the films in the play which was not in the in the in the play before but I said it once spontaneously in rehearsals and John Tiffany our fabulous director who's been doing it now for 10 years. I could see his eyes twinkle and go, yes, put that back in. And it's, needless to say, it's quite a hit every night. Is there a scene from the films that would have been fun to do on stage that you can think back to that, like, oh, experiencing that with a live audience would be a trip?

29:07There's already so much that happens on stage. It's hard to think of an idea of cramming in more. Right. You know there was a the original with the two-part version, right? Which now they sort of I think they're consolidating into the version that we have today, I think every actor would want another six hours Digging into their character back jog, but honestly this there's so much that happens on stage every night. I've done nothing 120 20-ish shows, and every night I'm still looking at various different illusions going, how did they do that? One of the things people don't realize is that when you're on set saying Expelliarmus, nothing happens.

29:52I'm just holding a piece of wood. And instead here, with the sound and the visuals and the production design and everything, like stuff is happening right in front of your face, which is still to me magical for lack of a better pun. Tom, what's going on in China? Oh my days, you know what I mean? It just gets more brilliantly bizarre. Like in a life filled with bizarre moments, surreal moments, where does Tom Felton slash Draco Malfoy being worshiped, like posters in malls rank in your history? I still think this is some sort of prank. I don't even have that kind of power. I would if I could. No, but when the first few people told me that this was the case, I mean, I don't want to get incorrect, but it's a Chinese symbol for the new year.

30:45Right. And it happens, so I'm going to mispronounce it now, but mi ha fu is the same syllabatic way of saying Malfoy. Right. and because it's a fire horse and Malfoy is quite he cares about money I don't know honestly we're going to have to get a professional in here I have no idea but I think it's fabulous and obviously like I can't believe it's it's still a trip to me that people know who Malfoy is in foreign countries so the fact that China knows who Draco Malfoy is, let alone uses them as the symbol for good fortune for the rest of the year. It's remarkable. I refuse to be indifferent. So it's so cool, but also how.

31:41You need to book a trip to China. You get off that plane, they're going to hoist you. Well, once the theater releases me, I will be on their way. How plugged in are you? like your relationship with, you're on social media. I mean, do friends have to let you know, or did you see that organically on your own? Dev, organically, I feel like I use social media the same as you to some degree. Sometimes it's professionally promoting They Will Kill You being out and enjoying that and really getting a chance to celebrate. The thing with film is we did that a year ago or more than that, and you don't know when it's going to come out.

32:22You don't know the result. Like, Facum Hall. I'm not sure if you saw it yet. I didn't see it. Do you want to do that one again? You did see it, and you loved it. Do you remember, like, Facum Hall? Oh, my God. You were, I meant to say, you were amazing in that, by the way, Tom. The number one show on HBO Max right now. On HBO Max. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's fantastic. You told me about that. Yep. Jesus Christ. Have you just listened to all my episodes? But that's, but that's so lovely. Fair enough. any of my episodes see now the friendship comes out honesty that's the important thing you want me to lie to you?

32:58a little bit the fact that Facom Hall we did a while ago and it's been widely received as a hit beautifully massaging two of my favorite genres one being naked gun I was lucky to grow up enough with naked gun That sense of yes that sense of humor largely the reason why we're taking the piss out of each other is because we've seen Naked Gun match that with the sort of Downton Abbey the crown-esque Exterior and and visuals you know, we all knew we were taking a bit of a risk with this one and It's been it's been so lovely to hear that that's been responded to well and I Without getting too ahead of myself.