Tom Felton Wasn't Always Draco: He Auditioned for Ron Weasley First
Felton has two stories that explain why he was cast as Harry's nemesis instead.
The Harry Potter movies have become so iconic that it's almost impossible to imagine anyone other than Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint playing the Golden Trio. But of course, hundreds of kids were considered for those roles… including Tom Felton, who originally auditioned for the role of Ron.
It's hard to imagine the sleek, blonde Felton as the snarky, ginger-haired Ron. But while he lost out on that role, producers were interested enough that they considered him as a possible Harry (!!) as well as a possible Draco.
Felton credits two events for his eventual casting as the sneering Slytherin. As he told Josh Horowitz in a recent Zoom interview:
'[Director] Chris Columbus did this trick, or tried this trick, where there's like 20 kids together and he'd say 'OK I'm just going to leave you guys for a sec, and we're going to go talk over here.' And the producers and whatnot would go into one corner and the other guy was still holding the boom mic. Like you know, the huge boom mic over our head, so I knew exactly what was going on.
'And this little brushy-haired girl came up to me and was like 'What's that?' I looked at her very arrogantly and said, 'It's a microphone you idiot, what do you think it is?' I'm pretty sure they heard that, and I'm pretty sure that helped me get the role of Draco Malfoy.
Also, it turns out that I saw that girl two months later and her name is Emma Watson, so we didn't get off to the greatest start.'
Felton has also recalled in interviews that Columbus asked all of the kids what their favourite part of the Harry Potter books was. But Felton hadn't read any of the books… so he lied and said his favorite moment was the same one mentioned by the kid before him.
Apparently, Columbus saw straight through the lie, but he also thought it was a totally Draco thing to say – and so Felton was hired.
It's always a risky business to cast children who are going to grow up in your franchise, changing as people and actors as they grow up. But there is no doubt that Tom Felton was a gift to the Harry Potter world. While Draco Malfoy begins as a simple schoolyard bully, Felton brought depth and complexity to the character in his teenage years, humanizing him and making him more sympathetic as he gets caught in the web of Voldemort's plans.
Felton says that he's glad the casting worked out the way it did – and so are we.
Source: Happy Sad Confused.