Tom Felton revealed that while he and his co-star Emma Watson are close now, he said it “did not start well” on set. His memoir Beyond the Wand: The Magical and Mayhem of Growing Up as a WizardFelton claimed that he first mocked Watson when he was nine years old. IndieWire.
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Felton, who was 12 then, said that Watson would “put together a little dance show” for the cast in her dressing room. Felton and Josh Herdman would tease Watson. “We sniggered our way down to Emma’s show, and the sniggers grew louder as she danced,” he wrote. “We were just being shitty boys, largely out of awkwardness and because we thought taking the piss was cool, but Emma was visibly upset by our thoughtless reaction. I did feel like a bit of a d**k, and rightly so.”
Felton confessed the star who had “most to deal with” coming of age during the films was Watson. “The pressures she experienced went further than just having to deal with stupid boys. She was treated as an adult right from the time she was cast. It’s a phenomenon that can, I think, be more difficult for girls than for boys. They are unfairly sexualised in the media and beyond…the last thing she needed, in an environment that should have been — and normally was — safe and friendly and familial, was Josh and me laughing at her dance,” he expressed.
He added, “That’s why I feel ashamed by the memory of our behaviour. And that’s why I’m glad that our friendship did not founder on the rocks of my insensitivity.” He also revealed that Watson eventually accepted his apology for partaking in a “stupid, teenage act of thoughtlessness, the sort of thing that happens every day.” But Felton wondered, “So why does that moment stick in my memory? Why is it so painful for me to recall?”
He went on to explain how the friendship turned out to be “a touchstone for both of our lives.” In a tribute that is a part of his memoir, Watson calls him her “soulmate”, with Felton also describing his “secret love” for his co-star Watson. “I don’t think I was ever in love with Emma, but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else,” Felton wrote.
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An article is available at The Independent, Felton said that Watson also encouraged him to “tell the whole story and not just sort of cherry-pick the fluffy bits” for his memoir. “Not just because it was cathartic for me, but also in the hope that sharing those parts of my story will help others that are maybe not going through the best time,” Felton said.
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