If there was a competition where one of the most legendary on-screen rivalries were to win, the feud between Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter saga would undoubtedly top the list. But if there was a competition where one of the most influential off-screen friendships were to win, then the relationship between Tom Felton and Daniel Radcliffe in real life would be the one to bag the prize without a question.
In fact, it’s surprising what a beloved relationship of ‘brotherhood’ that Felton and Radcliffe share in real life (as per Felton) despite playing each other’s biggest enemies on the big screens for over a decade while shooting for Harry Potter.
Tom Felton Considers Daniel Radcliffe His ‘Brother’
Although Harry Potter showed us a very hatred-filled relationship between Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy and Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter on-screen, that’s not even close to the case of their relationship off-screen.
During an interview with CBS Mornings, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes actor was asked to describe his relationship with his Harry Potter co-star for over a decade. To this, Felton said:
“Fantastic. I mean, I love the man very dearly. I don’t see him as much as I’d like to, that’s the same for all of us, really. But I consider him my brother, definitely. Huge amounts of respect for him.”
He then went on to share how he learned more from Radcliffe professionally than he did working with any of the other adults.
“Daniel brings a certain energy to any room that he’s in. But it was important to me, looking back, how important his enthusiasm and his eventual professionalism runs down the ranks, if you will.”
Not only this, but the Feed actor even praised the Kill Your Darlings star for how hard he worked while shooting with him.
“He could’ve very much easily, I think, coasted a lot of those years and it seemed to me, on set with him, that was always up for bringing as much as he can to the table, always being collaborative. And I think he learned that the same way that I did — from the other chaps around us.”
Turns out not everything you see on the big screens is real!
Tom Felton Feels Draco Malfoy And Harry Potter Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Continuing in the interview, Tom Felton was then asked to share his perspective on his comment of how he thinks his and Radcliffe’s Harry Potter characters are two sides of the same coin. To this, he said:
“They could be.”
Further elaborating his comment, Felton explained:
“I mean, we’ve had this chat. But essentially, you have, you know, one boy who has no parents, no money, no status, but he has everything that is good with the world. He has love and compassion and friends and truth and honesty.”
He then went on to share the personality of his character and the ironic situation that lay unseen behind it all.
“And the other side is the slightly darker one, where very powerful parents, lots of money, [a] big house, all the toys, but also a bully and someone that can’t find a way of expressing his light because he hasn’t been shown any his entire life. I mean, these are broad sweeps of the brush, but I think it’s fairly true.”
For what it’s worth, Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton might be each other biggest rivals on the big screens, but off-screen? No one can match the level of love and appreciation that the duo has for each other.
