New Photo and Interview of Tom Felton in the Sunday Times

In today’s edition of London’s The Sunday Times, Tom talks once again about growing up as a normal lad in Surrey while carrying the mantle of Draco Malfoy. An interview done over the phone from New Orleans, Tom talks about his new record label, Six String Productions, why he’s not worried about being typecast, but is worried about how he never finished his education.

On children meeting him in the streets:

“You leave Harry alone!” Whenever young Potter fans visit the movie set, Felton says: “They want to meet Daniel, Rupert and Emma [the actors who play Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron and Hermione] and get hugs and autographs from them. I always want to be as nice as I can to fans, because I think that’s as it should be. I try to crouch down to their height, shake hands, give them high-fives, but they’re terrified. They’re like, ‘I don’t want this guy near me, I don’t trust him.’ It took me a while to learn to deal with that, but it’s okay now.”

Why children crying are a compliment:

“Maybe that’s why I overdid the friendliness with the kids on set. Maybe I tried too hard.”

On Daniel Radcliffe:
“To carry a franchise like that for 10 years with no previous experience is outstanding.”

Why he’s not worried about being typecast:
“I’m not trying to shake the Draco mantle off yet. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

“I’m very lucky that Malfoy’s character is extraordinarily different from myself — almost the polar opposite, not just how he acts but also physically, with his pale skin and white hair.”

His hair:

“What a relief! I’m glad not to have to get out the old tinfoil and bleach any more. If ever I see a lady with blonde hair, I think, ‘I feel bad for you, girl, I know how much work it is.’”

Why he regrets not taking his A-levels:
He gained “some” GCSEs (“straight Cs, basically”) and regrets not taking A-levels: “I intended to after Potter, but now I want to keep filming, so I’ve missed my boat there. Emma [Watson] and Daniel have several A-levels and AS-levels between them, and Emma’s studying in America. They put me to shame acidemically.”

On why he’s worried about money:

“If you’re at your desk, can you call me back?” he asks when he calls me from the set of his new film in New Orleans. “It’s just that I recently racked up a massive phone bill in Japan and my mum whipped me into shape and said I’ve really got to curb it.”

I’d have thought he wouldn’t need to worry about phone bills. “You’d be surprised.”

He won’t say exactly what he’s worth, only that making movies “pays better than my paper round used to. No complaints, ha ha ha”.

On his father making him get a part-time job:

“He wanted me to understand the value of a pound,” he says. So for two years in his early teens Felton worked part time at Bury Hill Fisheries in Surrey, near home, “parking the cars in the morning, making sure everyone’s got a ticket to fish the lakes, clearing up litter, that kind of thing. It paid £20 a day, and I’m grateful for that time. Everyone should know how to work hard for their money.” Didn’t people ever ask why Draco Malfoy was parking their car? “Not a lot of the Surrey fishing community are Harry Potter fans,” he says, level-headedly.


On his mom and friends:

“My mum had to take time off work to take me to auditions, which I’m so grateful for.”And he missed out on some teenage socialising, passing up a school skiing trip because he couldn’t risk breaking a leg and delaying filming. “Looking back, it doesn’t seem so important, but at the time I was a distraught 16-year-old unable to go skiing with my friends.”

On his music and work with Six String Productions:

“We’re trying to be the middle men, to support young British artists. I’ve recorded a few songs myself, just for fun, but I’m not looking for a pop career.” The music he writes is “like a British Jack Johnson. Simple songs: we call it nursery rhymes for adults. Not to be taken too seriously”.

Thanks to Sandra for buying the online version of this article [after seeing SixStringProd’s tweet] just so we could get the quotes. Thanks!

EDIT: We were asked to remove the scan sent in of the magazine itself. However, we legitimately purchased the above online version so we’re leaving it in. 🙂

20 thoughts on “New Photo and Interview of Tom Felton in the Sunday Times

  1. I sincerely hope than Thomas will have a chance to finish his studies somehow.

    His regrets are genuine, you can sense clearly somebody willing to learn everything it cans, which is the obvious sign of a Spirit wanting to move farther and farther ahead. I can only approve.

    As far as phone bills and money goes, he’s to be truly careful with that, true. He’s got enough troubles with that, already.

    Cheers, Thomas!

    With Love,

    Sam.

  2. “And thanks to @maffygarcia for the photo only found in the print version. Thanks, loves!”

    Yeah you credited a girl on twitter but not the scottish girl who scanned the article and posted it to her tumblr
    Maffygarcia isn’t youngandundecided from tumblr – they are 2 different persons.
    I always thought that giving credit to the person who scanned an article is important, not to the person who found the scanned article online.

  3. I never wanted to sound mean but I am a Photography Assistant – so I know how important it is to get credit for your work.
    The problem with Twitter/tumblr is that so many people can post something, you can’t always see who was first.

  4. @feltbeats that picture would be amazing as a desktop wallpaper!! im using it for mine but it’s a bit blurry which is sad. 🙁

  5. Only that Draco scanned the whole thing in for this site too and got no credit and not even a thank you!

  6. Draco never sent me any scans. S/He may have sent them to the general email for the site, but be advised that email only goes to one of the ten administrators that post the news. We each post as we find things and credit who gives them to us unless they request us not to credit, or to give credit to someone else. It’s on a first come, first post basis, and that first person is the ont that general gets the credit.

    Thank you for reading our site devoted to all things Tom Felton. Have a great day.

  7. @feltbeats he’s reclining in this vintage-y room looking intense… well, he nearly always does. lol he has on a fedora n a grey cardigan

  8. Just to make you aware since I saw your twitter remarks regarding this post, the Sunday Times have contacted us to remove the scans of the article and photos people sent us due to them actually owning the copyright. What is left is what we as a website purchased from the magazine.

    Have a great day.

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