Tom Felton, the actor who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, has returned to the role after 14 years.
Felton reprised his role as the Harry Potter character in the Broadway sequel play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The star received a rapturous response from the audience, forcing the play to be paused for 40 seconds as he took it in, however, the actor’s return is embroiled in controversy.
A number of fans have criticised Felton on social media for returning to the franchise due to the continued involvement of author JK Rowling.
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JK Rowling has been embroiled in feuds with the main three actors from the series after they criticised her statements on the transgender community.
This includes Rowling claiming that she would ‘rather go to prison than use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns’ and repeatedly misgendering transgender newscaster India Willoughby.
Tom Felton’s response to JK Rowling controversy
Felton was asked by Variety about his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the author, saying: “I can’t say it [impacts me], I’m not really that attuned to it. I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter.
“She’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
Felton’s response was deeply controversial on social media, with one viral response calling it a ‘privileged straight white man take'.
Others pointed out that being able to ‘not be attuned’ to the controversy is itself a privilege.
Supporters of Rowling. however. have rallied behind Felton for his comments which most perceived to be in support of the author.
Tom Felton’s past comments on JK Rowling
This is not the first time Felton has been asked about the controversy, having been asked back in 2022.
He gave a quite similar answer at the time, saying: “First of all, I don’t know enough about the specifics of what anyone said.
“My dog takes up far too much time for me to go into such matters.
“I mean, the obvious things to say are that I’m pro-choice, pro-discussion, pro-human rights across the board, and pro-love.
“Anything that is not those things, I don’t really have much time for.”
Whilst he distanced Rowling from the films, stating that she ‘wasn’t part of the filmmaking process as much as some people might think’, he went on to give credit to the author for creating the world of Harry Potter.
He said: “I couldn’t speak for what others have said or what she said, to be completely honest, but I’m often reminded… that no one has single-handedly done more for bringing joy to so many different generations and walks of life.”
What have other Harry Potter actors said?
The other primary actors from the Harry Potter films have been more willing to criticise Rowling and her views.
Daniel Radcliffe published a statement in 2020 via LGBTQIA+ charity The Trevor Project, saying: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations, who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.
“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you.
“I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”
Watson and Grint followed Radcliffe in this, with Watson saying that trans people deserve to live their lives without being ‘constantly questioned’ and Grint saying: “I firmly stand with the trans community. Trans women are women. Trans men are men.”
Topics: LGBTQ, JK Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Harry Potter, US News, UK News
Michael Slavin