Tom Felton rose to prominence as a child actor starring in the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy epic novels, the Harry Potter series. What started off as an inspirational story for intergenerational fans and launched the careers of many was later overshadowed by the intolerant and dogmatic opinions of the author. In the years that followed, the child actors who grew up in the world of Harry Potter each shifted away from having any association with J.K. Rowling, Tom Felton being the latest among the ever-growing list.
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The Rise of Tom Felton & the Downfall of J.K. Rowling
Within the Harry Potter universe, Tom Felton emulated the role of Draco Malfoy in all his evil yet tragic glory. The young wizard of House Slytherin was created as a legacy child and as such, Felton built up to the portrayal of the character to his antagonistic future before succumbing to a conscientious fate. Praised and acclaimed for his role in the films, the British actor grew to have a reputation primarily defined by Harry Potter with not much of an illustrious career to show for himself, apart from his relatively significant role in CW’s The Flash.
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Recently, however, Tom Felton re-emerged in the public eye when the actor publicly spoke out against the author of the franchise that gave him his early fame and established his career within the Hollywood elite. J.K. Rowling has been the talk of the town for her numerous outspoken and unpopular views that are inherently transphobic and demeaning and subvert the identity of an entire community.
Tom Felton Condemns Harry Potter Author, J.K. Rowling
In a recent interview with The Independent promoting the launch of his new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, actor Tom Felton recalls the childhood that he spent on the sets of Harry Potter films and the author who provided the genesis to it all.
“As much as Jo is the founder of [these] stories, she wasn’t part of the filmmaking process as much as some people might think. I think I only recall seeing her once or twice on set.”
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But that is not the only memory he recalls from his time as a child actor. Tom Felton shares what it was like as a seven-year-old to get a role and about having to learn to audition all over again in today’s cut-throat world. But all of that aside, more important things take up the actor’s mind when he directly addresses the controversial transgender comments of author J.K. Rowling.
“First of all, I don’t know enough about the specifics of what anyone said. My dog takes up far too much time for me to go into such matters. I mean, the obvious things to say are that I’m pro-choice, pro-discussion, pro-human rights across the board, and pro-love. And anything that is not those things, I don’t really have much time for.
Honestly, with my friends, we all have differing opinions on various matters, and we celebrate our own choices. We certainly don’t take any pleasure in putting crosshairs on people that may have said things that we disagree with.”
The Harry Potter franchise is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: The Independent
