Tom Felton
Felton in November 2010
Born	Thomas Andrew Felton (1987-09-22) 22 September 1987 (age 24) Epsom, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actor, musician
Years active	1997–present
Website
tomfelton.com

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Felton^[1] (born 22 September 1987)^[2] is an English actor and musician. He is best known for playing the role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, the movie adaptations of the best-selling Harry Potter fantasy novels by author J. K. Rowling, for which he auditioned at age twelve.

Felton started filming in commercials when he was eight years old and in films at the age of ten, appearing in The Borrowers and Anna and the King.^[3] After being cast as Draco Malfoy he has subsequently appeared in all eight Harry Potter films, from 2001 to 2011.^[4][5] Felton's portrayal of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 won him the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2010 and 2011.^[6]

In his first post-Harry Potter film, Felton appeared in the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes series.^[7]

Early life[link]

Felton was born in Epsom, Surrey, as the son of Sharon and Peter Felton. He is the youngest of four brothers, and lives in Surrey with his dog Timber. He was a member of four different choirs throughout his childhood, starting with his church choir at age seven. Felton was educated at West Horsley's Cranmore School, until the age of thirteen.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Felton began acting in commercials for companies such as Commercial Union^[8] and Barclaycard.^[2] In 1995, he performed the voice of James in the television series Bugs and landed his first feature film role in 1997 when he played the part of Peagreen Clock in Peter Hewitt's film The Borrowers.^[3][9] Felton played witness Thomas Ingham opposite Clive Owen in Second Sight in 1999.^[3][10] Felton's role of Louis T. Leonowens in the film Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster, was also filmed in 1999 in Malaysia.^[2] Felton made an appearance in the episode "Hide and Seek" of Second Sight 2 followed in 2000.^[11] The Guildford Cathedral Choir also offered him a position.^[12]

2000–present[link]

By autumn in 2001, he had become known internationally for his portrayal of Draco Malfoy, the bully, enemy, and foil of Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. As of 2011, Felton has appeared in all of the Harry Potter films. Before landing the part of Malfoy, Felton had auditioned to play Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.^[13] Of the four young actors who succeeded in getting the main roles, Felton had the most extensive film experience.^[14] Thereafter Felton's schedule began to fill with the work of filming the first four movies, premieres, and contributing to articles and interviews. He also received the Disney Channel's Kids Awards for Best DVD Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 22 September 2003.^[15] Felton started his Official Tom Felton Fan Club in 2004 and took part in autograph signing events.^[16][17] His fan club was reported to have attracted so many fans that Felton had to put a temporary stop to people signing up to his fan club.^[18] The autographing session in Germany drew people from Chile and one fan in Cologne summarised: "Tom is a real nice, professional young man, always happy, smiling, laughing, full of power — a real gentleman."^[19] When the fan asked Felton what kids should do if someone like his character is bullying them, he said: "Tell someone. You don't want to keep it to yourself."^[13]

After filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Felton made a guest appearance on Home Farm Twins in 2005, where he played Adam Baker in the short-lived series.^[20] He attended Collectormania on 30 April 2005^[21][22] and London's world premiere for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[23] On 11 November 2005, he and Rupert Grint presented Liz Carnell with the Daily Mirror's Pride of Britain Award for all of her work to raise awareness of the dangers of bullying.^[24][25] Felton worked on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix throughout 2006. Now having read more of the Harry Potter books, Felton reflects: "I have had input into Draco. If they give me a line and I don't think it is something he would say, I suggest changing it. They do listen to you and you do feel a part of it."^[14]

Felton at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

In July 2007, Felton visited Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado in a pre-screening charitable event of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.^[26] He was also present at Leicester Square for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 3 July 2007.^[27][28]

Felton also appeared in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film of the series.^[29] When asked whether he was looking forward to playing a good guy in the future he answered: "No. Well, I don't know. I suppose for now I'm happy with sticking to what he is. But after the Potter legacy is over I look forward to playing a good guy or someone different anyway, someone not so spiteful."^[30] Felton also played the character Simon in the 2009 horror/thriller movie The Disappeared.^[31]

Felton posted three music videos on YouTube under an account called "Feltbeats", in which he performs fragments of original songs. Nine songs have been re-recorded and are now available on iTunes: "Time Well Spent," "Time Isn't Healing", "One of These Days", "Under Stars," "Right Place, Right Time," "In My Arms," "All I Need," and "I'll Be There" join the instrumental "Silhouettes in Sunsets." He also recorded an album available on iTunes and Amazon.com named In Good Hands. It includes the six songs "If You Could Be Anywhere", "We Belong", "When Angels Come", "Convinced", "Father of Mine", and "If Thats Alright With You".

In 2010, Felton released his original song "Hawaii" exclusively on www.sixstringproductions.com/store.aspx^[32] – an independent record label run by Felton, David Proffitt and Philip Haydn-Slater promoting creative independence and ownership of artists’ material and musical talent.

In November 2010 the movie White Other, which Tom played the main character, Ray Marsden, was released. Tom's character Ray is a troubled youth in the "ends" of England and Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, also makes an appearance as one of the other main roles in the movie.^[33]

Felton had a cameo role in Get Him to the Greek, released on 4 June 2010.^[34] In February 2010, he was cast in the thriller film The Apparition.^[35] Felton portrays the human character Dodge Landon in the 2011 science-fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes.^[7]

On 18 March 2011, Felton appeared in a comedy sketch on Red Nose Day 2011 alongside James Corden, Rupert Grint, George Michael, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Gordon Brown MP, Professor Robert Winston and Keira Knightley.^[36]

In August 2011 Tom did a photo shoot with his friend and Harry Potter co-star Rupert Grint in Los Angeles for the fall/winter collection of the fashion label Band of Outsiders.^[37]

Personal life[link]

In 2003, Felton and his brother Chris worked with Joe Babbitt, the St. Lawrence County Angler's Association, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6, the Chamber of Commerce, and a diverse group of other organisations to form the World Junior Carp Tournament,^[30][38] which involves competitive fishing for ages eleven to eighteen in a family-friendly environment.^[39]

Felton's favourite hobby was fishing and he once said that he planned to pursue some qualification in fishery management at Sparsholt College in Winchester, where his brother had gone years before. Felton now intends to pursue his acting career.^[30][40] Apart from fishing, Felton also enjoys other sports, such as cricket, basketball, football, roller skating, golf, horse riding and tennis.^[20] He said during an interview, "I am generally more and more in my comfort zone in the wild. The only time I can really relax is up a tree or somewhere outside. I love being outside."^[30] His ideal place for a holiday is the United States.^[40] More specifically, in an interview, he said he liked to go to the St. Lawrence River in New York.^[30] His favourite villain in movies is Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,^[40] who stars in the Harry Potter film series as Severus Snape. He said during an interview that his favourite characters in Harry Potter are Gilderoy Lockhart^[13] and Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.^[30] Felton said that if he could play another character in the film, he would play Lucius Malfoy, or even Voldemort. When asked which house in Hogwarts he would like to stay in, Felton said it would definitely be Slytherin.^[41]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of Harry Potter films cast members

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Felton

Official Sites

• Official website
• Six String Productions
• Tom Felton at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Felton's channel on YouTube

Fan Sites

• Tom Felton EU
• Feltbeats