Tom Felton stated that “Harry Potter” co-star Ralph Fiennes invented the awkward embrace between Voldemort and Draco Malfoy in the final film.
Felton, who portrayed Draco in all eight “Harry Potter” films produced between 2001 and 2011, wrote about his experience working with Fiennes in his memoir, “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard,” which was published on Tuesday.
Fiennes, who portrays the franchise’s antagonist, was described by Felton as an actor with a “weighty presence” and a “otherness that put him apart from everyone else on set.” When Fiennes and Felton filmed the Battle of Hogwarts in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Fiennes’ distinctive personality shone through.
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Voldemort in the second installment of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
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The actor stated that the “huge moment” for him was when Draco abandoned his classmates and instructors at Hogwarts to join his parents Lucius (Jason Isaacs) and Narcissa (Helen McCrory) on the side of Voldemort.
Voldemort spoke as Felton’s character crossed the floor to switch sides “Ah! Well done, Draco. Well done, “and pulled him into a tight embrace.
Felton writes in his memoir, “I must have taken that walk 30 or 40 times.” “For numerous takes, I walked past Voldemort while keeping my distance, pacing slowly, and keeping my head bowed in fear. Ralph would always look at me differently. Occasionally, he’d smile. Occasionally, he would not. Occasionally, he would interrupt his monologue and tell me to return.”
“In the middle of a take, as I was approaching him for the hundredth time, he lifted his arm slightly,” Felton explained. “It was a little movement, but it was enough to make me pause and wonder: is he trying to hug me?”
Draco Malfoy is portrayed by Tom Felton in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
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He proceeded: “Uncertain, I shuffled forward him with my arms at my sides. He wrapped his own arms around me and offered me the most unwelcome embrace ever shot on film. Even on set, I was chilly. A hug from Voldemort was terrifying for Draco, and equally uncomfortable for Tom. It gave me goosebumps at the time, and remembering it now gives me goosebumps.”
The hug that made it into the final cut of the film was not written, and Felton “had no idea they were intending to use it until I saw the film at its London premiere.”
“That was one out of fifty,” Felton stated. “I had no idea it would be used until I saw the film for the first time at the London premiere. The audience remained very silent. I could feel everyone around me holding their breath uncomfortably because there was something so twisted about that moment, something so terrible about Voldemort’s perverted exhibition of adoration.”