Taking a stand can be hard in Hollywood, especially if you’re taking a stand against something that has fed you well over the years. With that said, it’s still hugely disappointing when someone fails to meet the moment. The industry is seeing this once again with the recent viral comments of Tom Felton, an actor who rose to fame portraying Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. The hit franchise is based on the fantasy YA novels by J.K. Rowling, a once-beloved author who has lost legions of fans due to her frankly disturbing transphobic views. Felton is making a return to the Harry Potter universe, and sadly, his lack of a stance regarding Rowling is proving to be another disappointment.
Felton will be returning to portray Draco Malfoy in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and, when asked if any of Rowling’s transphobic views made him hesitant to return, the actor’s response was disappointing. He wasn’t brave enough to address it properly. In fact, he played the naive, “it doesn’t bother me because it doesn’t directly affect me” card while praising Rowing in the process.
“No, I can’t say it does. I’m not really that attuned to it. The only thing that I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world, here I am in New York, and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. And she’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
There is no denying that the Harry Potter franchise, across the books and films, has united a legion of fans who sought an escape into its wizarding world while also allowing them to connect with its fully formed characters. Sadly, that has been irrevocably tainted by the very person who created this world, and associating with it has become tricky at best.
It becomes even more problematic when the parties have benefited financially from their involvement, and Felton is one of those very people. Reportedly, the actor was paid $17 million for his role as Draco Malfoy, and that’s only with 31 minutes and 45 seconds of screen time in all eight of the movies. On a per-minute scale, he’s the highest-paid actor in the franchise.
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So, since his career — compared to his other co-stars — hasn’t quite been able to escape the Harry Potter universe, it becomes more obvious why Felton isn’t rocking the boat and biting the hand that has fed him. However, not only does it make it obvious, it also makes him look like an even bigger coward for essentially taking what some fans believe to be dirty money from Rowling.
Playing Dumb Is a Cop-Out
Felton’s response fell short for a few reasons. Perhaps the most egregious part of it was saying that he’s “not really that attuned to it.” This is an actor who has been immersed in this franchise since he was a child and has continued to align himself with Rowling and Potter at every possible turn. So, if anyone is attuned to Rowling and her comments, it should be him. Casual people surfing the internet are very aware of the vitriol that she is spewing, so for him to pretend as if it’s so off his radar is even more insulting than not taking a stand at all.
There is no way that he (and his team) wouldn’t have seen this question coming, and the least he could have done is tackle it with a bit more grace and sincerity. That being said, this isn’t the first time he has sidestepped his answer to this question. Back in 2022, he expressed that he did “not know enough about the specifics” regarding Rowling’s transphobic comments. The fact that he followed that up by saying “My dog takes up far too much time for me to go into such matters” is a legitimately cowardly cop-out and serves to be even more offensive to those who have had to deal with Rowling’s scathing remarks.
Differing opinions are bound to happen, and people have the right not to think like everyone else does. However, it’s the willingness to walk the fine line to stay in the good graces of the source of the negativity that rings entirely false. Felton has said in the past that he’s “pro-choice, pro-discussion, pro-human rights across the board, and pro-love,” but it’s clear that he picks and chooses when to express this. If this were really the stance that he lived his life by, he would offer up more of an opinion regarding Rowling’s comments because it would be his opinion.
The Issue of Money
Not only does Felton’s refusal to comment on Rowling’s transphobia create an issue, but his involvement alone is worth critiquing. This isn’t just a difference of opinion when Rowling uses her wealth to fund anti-trans political movements; she played an active part in the UK Supreme Court ruling that the definition of “woman” only includes cisgender women. Felton knows that his performance in Cursed Child is sure to generate excitement and, more significantly, profit. He may not be responsible for what Rowling does with her money, but he’s making sure she has plenty of it.
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Cast Shows Us How It’s Done
There are ways to distance yourself from awful people involved in a beloved franchise while still showing love for it. A good example of this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Once Charisma Carpenter, who portrayed Cordelia on the series and its spin-off Angel, went public with the bullying and abuse she suffered at the hands of its creator, Joss Whedon, many other people from the show came forward with their own stories. In the midst of this were fans who felt torn about loving a show created by someone who seemed to champion girl power, and yet, behind the scenes, did anything he could to make women feel small because of his own insecurities.
Seeing how uneasy fans were about this, many people from the show, while still publicly rallying against Whedon’s behavior, permitted fans to take ownership of Buffy because it was bigger than the man who created it. The stars and creatives of the show also permitted themselves to take ownership of it while acknowledging all the things that Whedon did that were abhorrent. That’s how you can still play in a universe with a problematic creator. This is likely why Sarah Michelle Gellar is more than willing to bring the franchise back, because she, along with the new minds behind the sequel series, can positively take ownership of it without Whedon.
The Least Tom Felton Could Do Is Speak Up
The problem that has plagued him and others joining the Harry Potter universe via the upcoming HBO series is that they all seem to want to play coy about Rowling and pretend to be shocked when fans have something to say about their participation in it. Throwing your hands up and turning a blind eye just doesn’t work when the story is so big, and given the scope of the franchise, one would think they’d be more prepared to tackle the question. Felton’s young co-stars from the films, the trifecta of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have all stood tall and publicly denounced Rowling’s rhetoric, even after she has come at them for doing so.
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That’s not to say that everyone needs to go all in like they did, but Felton’s choice of response indicated that he won’t speak against bigotry because it’s of no benefit to him. If he didn’t want to go all out, taking a page from Nick Frost’s playbook would’ve also worked. The actor, who was recently cast as Hagrid in the upcoming HBO series, was asked about Rowling’s trans views, and he responded by saying, “She’s allowed her opinion, and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.” That’s a short and sweet response that shows he stands by his integrity.
Felton found himself in a position to speak on a matter with respect and without cowardice, but chose not to. As someone who believes one can still exist in Rowling’s world or still enjoy the work because one’s own relationship to the material is unique to the individual, I wouldn’t take much issue with Felton continuing to engage with the Harry Potter lore. It’s a part of his life, and it shaped him as a young boy into a man. That being said, with that growth into a man should also come a set of principles. Be strong enough to speak about what’s right and certainly have a stronger backbone than to act as if you’re unaware of what’s going on. It comes off nearly as disrespectful as the words Rowling has been using over the years to spew so much hate.
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