One Improvised Harry Potter Scene That Gave Tom Felton the Creeps
Turns out Voldemort and Draco's creepy, uncomfortable hug in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was not in the script, it was a total improvisation!
The perfect casting for the Harry Potter movies has once again been confirmed with the Tuesday release of Tom Felton 's memoir titled Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard. Among other things, Felton, who starred in the Harry Potter franchise as Draco Malfoy, described one particular improvised scene that sent chills down his spine.
The scene happened during the Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 when Hogwarts students were given a choice to join Voldemort and his Death Eaters. At that moment, Draco abandons his schoolmates and joins his parents in Voldemort's inner circle. This is quite a long scene where a visibly terrified Draco walks past Voldemort, his head down, Hogwarts wizards and witches frowning upon him, to join his parents. It looks like all Draco wants is to be as far from the Dark Lord as possible.
But the creators were clearly not happy with the dynamics of the scene and made Tom Felton make about 50 cuts until the magic happened. Ralph Fiennes, portraying Voldemort, would act differently in every cut. Sometimes he would smile with his cold Voldemort grin, sometimes he would watch Draco move, sometimes talk to him, sometimes not pay any attention.
At last, he slightly lifted his arm, which made Felton wonder if Fiennes wanted to interact with him. Felton writes, he slightly leaned forward and Fiennes put his arms around him, giving him probably one of the most unfriendly hugs featured in a movie.
This Voldemort's gesture was frightening for Draco, and it was equally disturbing for Tom who describes Ralph Fiennes as unworldly and different from everyone else on the set.
"It gave me goosebumps then, and the memory gives me goosebumps now," Felton wrote.
Actors didn't know what cut of the fifty taken would become final until they saw the movie's premiere. Felton describes the scene with a hug to be so uncomfortable and the uneasiness of it to be so palpable that the audience fell silent in the theater.