WJS: How did you prepare for this role? It’s decidedly different than your film work.
Tom Felton: We shot this all on the day. Minka and I met each other two days before we shot to familiarize ourselves with the text. Physically speaking, we only had one dress rehearsal and in a weird way I think that helped. It was a situation that was never supposed to be the most comfortable of dinners. A lot of the stuff is physically about being in the moment.

WJS: And Tom, how did you get into his mindset?
Tom: It was hard to understand him at times. He went from being very understanding to rage and very bitter, there was definitely a sort of juvenile element and a mental state, He’s 20 and I’m 26. There was a lot more selfishness, a hidden selfishness that I got to explore. He’s a great bipolar spirit.

WJS: Even though you’re inside a restaurant, Los Angeles and the United Kingdom are brought up constantly.
Tom: I think there’s a bit more spring in your step. I remember coming to L.A. for the first time. It’s a weird place. You don’t know anyone, but it’s a very lonely place. When you do find someone you get on well with, I can see how enchanting and this sort of place can be. I put myself in the shoes of Tom and I didn’t have the greatest few months, but after that it turned around. I used that.

WJS: As you were filming, did you know that this series was going to be released all at once, Netflix style.
Tom: Yes, and I think choosing to distribute all the episodes at once, I kind of see television in the future going that direction. Binge viewing, I’m guilty of doing that. And the quality of TV seems to have gone through the roof, and there’s this old prestige of film over TV, and I think it is certainly not there in my eyes anymore, in part because of binge viewing.