SnitchSeeker.com - Tom Felton talks Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter phenomenon

In the second part (the first part can be found here) of Tom Felton's (Draco) interview with Good Prattle he goes into great detail about Draco's transformation and development throughout the series, focusing heavily on Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

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Yes, yes. Finally.
Good, good, good. Finally, yeah. I think I was rambling on about… oh, yes, [Draco's] vulnerability, and how there’s a completely different side of him [in Half-Blood Prince] that hasn’t really been exposed in years previous. Obviously, he’s been given an actual chance for depth, say, whereas before he was always sort of an annoying, slimy git, but in the back of the classroom. But in that respect I had to take a lot more sort of gentle and soft approach to how he might deal with his task.

We also get to see that he’s not doing what he is doing for Voldemort so much as for his family.
Completely, yeah. Sure. But it’s all in the eyes of his father, isn’t it, really? Normally it’s locked away, but now he feels like he’s the man of the house and he needs to sort of represent the Malfoy Manor to the fullest, really, and, yeah, he’s not built from the same stuff as young Harry is. He’s not cut from the same cloth, by any means, and he certainly can’t hold his nerve when he needs to.

Yeah. What sort of relationship do you think he has with his father?
A very interesting one, actually! I mean, mostly he idolizes his father to every last degree, and equally, I’m sure, he’s terrified of his father! He’s absolutely petrified, and I think most things are done maybe 20% fully from the fear that he might get another clock around the ear! I’d be intrigued to hear what Joanne Rowling would have to say about that.

Yeah. Certainly, he’s not the most decent person, but he has a reason, because he’s had a very different sort of upbringing.
Sure. I mean, one thing for sure is he’s not the way he is out of chance. He’s well and truly been brought up that way, if that makes sense. In this film coming up, I think the ultimate goal that David Yates [the director] and I sat down and spoke earlier on is that we want to make him do some of these horrible things and to instigate some terrible notions but at the same time—for the audience to hate him, as they always have done, naturally, but also to feel terrifically sorry for him and to empathize with the situation that he’s in, because, in modern terms, you’ve been given a gun and told to shoot the Prime Minister or the President. He’s been given a task that, really, he’s not up for.

It’s like, “Do this or we’ll kill your family.” Essentially.
Completely. Completely, and that’s a tough time for anyone to be in, especially a child.

Yeah, absolutely. And with the progression of the films the director’s chair has been passed along to different people, so I’m sure that also affected not only your portrayal but also the understanding of the role.
Sure, completely. I mean, one thing that was quite important for me was to not think of book number seven and not think—he almost goes slightly back in number seven, back into his old sort of gittish ways—

Almost.
Yeah, I know there’s sort of a lovely sort of odd scene in the Malfoy Manor in which he chooses not to rat them out—I think he chooses not to recognize young Harry, which is quite a big thing!

Nor to recognize Hermione.
Yeah, there’s quite a bit of mystery about his character from this one onward, really! I think that he definitely had a sort of revelation inside where he doesn’t quite know where he is or who he is or what he’s doing. And there’s a great scene in this one where he runs into the bathroom after hearing that he’s hurt someone and he breaks down and he can’t handle it any more, which is, again, a really interesting side to see of someone who’s such a slimy git! [laughs]

Tom also delves deeply into the massive Harry Potter phenomenon, the fandom itself and how the fans have reacted to it:

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Right. You know, also J.K. Rowling has created not only a brilliant set of stories but also this incredible, great, big world into which fans can just go and be fully engaged.
I know! It’s crazy. I think the fan base is one of the most unique things about the books and about the films. The one thing that always, always amazes me is the very range of age. You know, there really isn’t “an age” where Harry Potter is cool—you can be five years old—I’ve seen little kids coming up to the premieres and coming up to the studios, and I’ve seen 78-year-old-men come up to the studios and they’ve been over the moon to meet Daniel [Radcliffe] and so forth. It’s very bizarre, because usually there’s a quite clear divide as to whether it’s sort of a kid’s film or not. We really don’t fall into any category. It’s actually a film for everyone, and it seems to bring out a really fanatical side of moviegoers. I mean, not talking from too much experience, but, of the premieres I’ve been to, the Harry Potter ones have been the craziest without a doubt. [laughs] Especially in America!

Oh, yeah. And there are so many different ways to get engaged as a fan—there’s the stories, and then there’s the world…
Yeah, you can really lose yourself as a fan.

In other fandoms for other works you see fanfiction and other things, but not nearly to the extent you see it for Harry Potter.
No, by any means. No, no, exactly that. It’s a whole ‘nother world, like you say. [laughs] I think it can be quite easy for people to lose themselves.

I’ve seen people write stories pairing Draco with Hermione.
[laughs] Sort of worrying.

[laughs] Well, I’ve also seen stories where Draco’s paired with Harry. There’s everything.
[laughs] Even more worrying! [laughter] No, again, I really think it opened people’s imaginations on a whole ‘nother level, really. And it’s great, because a lot of kids now who might not have been into books and reading so much are now thinking about becoming authors themselves.

Right. Absolutely.
[Rowling]’s a great role model, and I can’t help but think that great things will come from it, and she’s inspired so many people.

It’s absolutely great that there’s been a series that has engaged so much of the world, especially when reading seems to be dying out.
Yeah, sure. No, exactly that. It’s nice to have some fresh stories, really, some fresh ideas, if that makes sense.

Yeah, absolutely. And, sure, I feel like post-Harry Potter there are more mini-phenomena in the literary world than there were before because people are getting more into books.
That’s it! The long and short of it is, they read the seven Harry Potter books and they’re looking for something else to read! I think single-handedly Jo Rowling has inspired the reading world to get reading again. I mean, obviously there are people who were reading before, but I can’t imagine the number of children who are now heavily into reading thanks to Harry Potter.