The cast of the Harry Potter franchise have always been outspoken when it comes to protecting the fans, especially when it's going against the franchise author's controversial tweets surrounding transphobia and homophobia altogether. In the Harry Potter reunion, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, most of the cast managed to attend, except for J.K. Rowling who merely appeared via pre-shot interview video to slip into the film. And now, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy throughout the seven films, had finally spoken about the controversy.
During an interview with Independent where he promotes his memoir, Beyond The Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, he speaks up about the Rowling situation, seeing as fans have yet to hear his side of things. The actor explains his side of the story, claiming he never has much time outside of taking care and looking after his dog, Willow.
“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.”
Back in 2020, when Rowling's transphobic tweet first sparked Potterheads in distancing the author from the fandom and franchise (and claim Daniel Radcliffe the creator instead), Felton had also deleted his perhaps 'misclicked like' on Rowling's tweet, and since then, has never spoken up about it, continuing to be mistaken for still supporting her in spite of what spiraled. Until now.
“It is also a reminder that as much as Jo [Rowling] 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.”
Considering how one of the only notable contributions the author made during filmmaking was telling the plot twist of Severus Snape’s character in Deathly Hallows to actor Alan Rickman, perhaps we can attest to Felton’s word. Most film adaptations evidently do not involve the author of the source material as much.
Felton adds, however, his gratitude for the author’s writing, how she is ‘responsible’ for stories that are beloved by people ‘of all ages, of all backgrounds.’ “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.”
Also Read: Harry Potter's Draco Actor Made a Mistake That Got Alan Rickman To Swear At Him
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