In Harry Potter, there are quite a few villains, including of course Draco Malfoy. His actor was accustomed to the role, but one scene in the films taught even him to fear.
Tom Felton played Draco Malfoy in all eight films of Harry Potter and was despite having relatively little screen time the highest-paid actor. While he initially stands out in the early parts for bullying other students and comes across as snobby, his character develops into an almost tragic direction over the course of the story.
At the latest in Part 6, the character gains additional depth when he is personally chosen by Lord Voldemort to kill Dumbledore. Despite everything, Draco doesn’t fare too poorly in our survey of the favorite characters.
Tom Felton shared a scene or two with Lord Voldemort. However, in one case, something unexpected happened on set that even gave the experienced actor goosebumps.
An Unexpected Hug
Which scene are we talking about? In Film 8, the second part of the Deathly Hallows, the great battle for Hogwarts takes place. The “good” side, led by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, defends the wizarding school against Voldemort’s attack and his henchmen.
Initially, Draco is also on the side of the defenders, but in a particular scene, he crosses over to the evil side. Voldemort welcomes Draco’s decision and praises him for it.
Tom Felton describes the shooting in his book “Beyond Magic: The Blessing and Curse of Growing Up a Wizard” (via businessinsider.com) and calls the scene “a big moment”.
According to Felton, it was shot up to 50 times, during which the actors tried out different things. Especially Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes loved to improvise, leading to a special moment. Felton describes it this way:
Ralph looked at me differently every time. Sometimes he smiled; sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he interrupted his monologue and told me to go back. In the middle of a take, as I approached him for the umpteenth time, he only raised his arm just a little. It was the smallest gesture, but enough to make me stop and think: Does he want to hug me?
Tom Felton
Film fans likely remember the moment when Voldemort actually hugs Draco. In the film, the scene seems very strange because while Voldemort makes a nice gesture, he appears anything but affectionate. Felton thought the same:
He hugged me with the least inviting hug ever captured on film. Even on set, it took me by surprise. A hug from Voldemort was frightening for Draco, and for Tom, it was just as uncomfortable. Back then, I got goosebumps, and the memory of it still gives me goosebumps today.
Tom Felton
You can watch the scene on YouTube.
The shivering was worth it, as the scene made it into the final film. Felton himself didn’t know about it until the premiere. He was all the more surprised to see the shocked reaction of the audience. The scene is rightly memorable and hard to forget once you’ve seen it. On MeinMMO, you will find a list of bloopers from the films: The 10 biggest movie mistakes in Harry Potter that you can no longer overlook
