Tom Felton has many feathers in his cap: he’s a cult hero star of the Harry Potter franchise. He’s a published author. He’s a proper stage actor. And right now, he’s starring in Uber Eats ads that will grace Aussie telly screens for the next few months.
In the ads, Tom plays a version of himself who seems to be missing the days of playing Draco Malfoy. So he decides to order “magic” from the Uber Eats app and absolute chaos ensues, resulting in the mysterious disappearance of his neighbour.
As a card-carrying Harry Potter stan, I obviously died internally when Uber Eats invited me on-set in southeast Sydney one Friday night to chat to the man who played the iconic Draco Malfoy.
Holed up in his trailer after a long day of shooting, I asked Tom Felton about everything from opening up about substance abuse and mental health in his memoir Beyond The Wand, his much-discussed relo with Emma Watson, erotic Harry Potter fanfiction and of course, the hot rumours that he will join the upcoming Harry Potter reboot.
But first things first: he was in Australia for Uber Eats, so what Aussie food did he order in with the app when he landed? “I feel like Australia does fast food the best. I’m a huge KFC fan, I’ve been living off popcorn chicken for the last couple of days,” he confessed, in a real “celebs: they’re just like us” moment.
“I love that and [Aussies’] utter appreciation for beer.”
Tom finds himself in a spot of trouble in the new Uber Eats ad.
It’s interesting that Tom brings up beer, because in his memoir Beyond The Wand he details his struggles with alcohol, which landed him in rehab multiple times. His book is a remarkably honest and raw account of his experiences, and I ask him what it took to open up like that in print.
“I’m quite lucky because I write for my own benefit, really. I write songs and poetry and memories down because I fear I’m going to forget that. So during the COVID lockdown, it was a case of compiling these 10,000 pieces of paper,” Tom explained.
“When I was asked [to write a memoir], I thought ‘There’s definitely not a book here’. And it was only through going through that process that I actually managed to be convinced that it was worth publishing.
[With] the struggles of substances and rehabilitation … I realise [now] that I’ve shared that to the world. I’ve done that out of a place of my own cathartic nature, but also the amount of people that I have met since then — especially young men who struggle a little bit — we’re talking about feelings,” Tom told us.
“I know rehabilitation has a sort of slightly negative connotation to some regard. But to me, it’s something that every person in the world … can see as a really positive thing to talk about. It shouldn’t be shame or be taboo. So I was encouraged to include those scraps of paper in the book, to try remove that taboo.”
Tom told PEDESTRIAN that it was his close friend and Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson who helped give him the confidence to share these experiences in Beyond the Wand.
“Emma was the first person that I really shared the stories with, just because she’s one of my best friends. And she actually encouraged me to talk about mental health and said: ‘Look, if you’re going to tell a story, then you may as well just tell the whole overall thing.’ And she was encouraging enough to the point where she was kind enough to write the foreword for [Beyond the Wand],” Tom recalled.
I can’t help it — I had to ask Tom about fans’ obsession with their relationship, given that Emma revealed in the Harry Potter reunion that she was “in love with” Tom Felton at one point.
Tom was (disappointingly, I might add) a little coy about Emma. “Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of hers. And I think she’s a huge fan of mine.” Dramione shippers (Draco/Hermione, for non-fanfiction readers) are absolutely nutting right now.
Tom and I actually spoke about Harry Potter fanfiction during our interview. “I don’t know about the Dramione thing. I feel like it’s a fictitious world that I’m not really privy to,” he laughed. “There’s Drarry (Draco/Harry) too. People write their own stories and draw their own pictures. And my brother, to annoy me, actually had one of those pics of Draco and Harry together as his screensaver!” What an absolute troll move.
Needless to say I took this segue into Harry Potter and ran with it, and told Tom that I’m old enough to have been actively reading the books as they were published, and see all the movies the day they came out at the cinema.
I asked if Tom had any idea back in 2001 that 20+ years after Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone came out, the series would be picking up new fans (like my three-year-old daughter who loves the first film).
“None of us did,” he told me. “I was 10 or nine years old when [J.K Rowling] started writing the books. Most fans that come up to me now and ask me for pictures weren’t born. I celebrate it so much. And I’m so grateful to be part of something that has culturally brought so many different walks of life together, especially in ages.
“I remember the first time that I noticed that was on the London Underground. And there was a 70-year-old man reading one of the books and there was an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him reading the same one. I don’t know too many things other than, like, the Beatles that has brought that many generations together in this day and age.”
In fact, Harry Potter has lived on for so long, it’s now copping the reboot treatment in the form of a television series for HBO Max.
Fans have already decided that Tom Felton would be the perfect person to play Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy — the role made famous by Jason Isaacs — this time around.
“Let’s start the hashtag right now,” Tom said with an evil little giggle when I asked him about appearing in the reboot.
“The passion in the Wizarding World is continuing and that’s what I care about. I’ve gotten to play a very small part in bringing the oldies like you [into Harry Potter] and I’m really excited that your daughter will be part of the generation that continues that passion and positive connection.
“As far as casting me as Lucius: yes. I just don’t think they can afford me,” Tom laughed. “Let’s make it clear I am joking.”
He looked at me with a cheeky grin and added: “But also: I’m available.”
There you have it, Potterheads: let’s start crowdfunding now. And in the meantime, we can just enjoy Tom Felton being arrested in that Uber Eats ad.
