Tom Felton

Tom Felton
Felton in 2015
Born	Thomas Andrew Felton (1987-09-22) 22 September 1987 Epsom, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actor, musician, director
Years active	1997–present
Partner(s)	Jade Olivia (2008-present)
Website	tomfelton.com

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Felton^[1] (born 22 September 1987)^[2] is an English actor. Felton began appearing in commercials when he was 8 years old for companies such as Commercial Union and Barclaycard. He made his screen debut in the role of Peagreen Clock in The Borrowers (1997) and he portrayed Louis T. Leonowens in Anna and the King (1999). He rose to prominence for his role as Draco Malfoy in the film adaptions of the best-selling Harry Potter fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling. His performances in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 won him two consecutive MTV Movie Awards for Best Villain in 2010 and 2011.

Following the conclusion of the series in 2011, Felton appeared in the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes series.^[3] He had roles in the minor films From the Rough (2011) and The Apparition (2012), starred as James Ashford in the critically acclaimed period drama film Belle (2013), followed by roles in In Secret (2014) and Against the Sun (2014). Felton's 2016 films include the epic biblical drama Risen, alongside Joseph Fiennes, and the period biopic A United Kingdom, alongside David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. He portrays Julian Albert / Doctor Alchemy on The Flash.

Early life

Felton was born in Epsom, the son of Sharon and Peter Felton. He was educated at West Horsley's Cranmore School, until the age of thirteen. He then attended The Howard of Effingham School which is a high school that is located in Effingham that specialises in Sciences. Felton is a singer and was part of a choir at the age of seven. He was a member of four school choirs and was given the chance to be part of the Guildford Cathedral Choir. He has three older brothers; Ashley, Jonathan and Chris. Felton is the youngest of four sons.^[4]

Career

Early career

Felton began acting in adverts for companies such as Commercial Union^[5] and Barclaycard.^[2] In 1995, he performed the voice of James in the television series Bugs and landed his first feature film role in 1997 when he played the part of Peagreen Clock in Peter Hewitt's film The Borrowers.^[6][7] Felton played witness Thomas Ingham opposite Clive Owen in Second Sight in 1999.^[6][8] Felton's role of Louis T. Leonowens in the film Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster, was also filmed in 1999 in Malaysia.^[2] Felton made an appearance in the episode "Hide and Seek" of Second Sight 2 followed in 2000.^[9] The Guildford Cathedral Choir also offered him a position.^[10]

2000–present

By autumn 2001, Felton had become known internationally for his portrayal of Draco Malfoy, the bully, enemy and foil of Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He appeared in all of the Harry Potter films. Before landing the part of Malfoy, Felton had auditioned to play Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.^[11] Of the four young actors who succeeded in getting the main roles, Felton had the most extensive film experience.^[12] Thereafter Felton's schedule began to fill with the work of filming the first four films, premieres, and contributing to articles and interviews. He also received the Disney Channel's Kids Awards for Best DVD for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 22 September 2003.^[13] Felton started his Official Tom Felton Fan Club in 2004 and took part in autograph signing events.^[14][15] His fan club was reported to have attracted so many fans that Felton had to put a temporary stop to people signing up to his fan club.^[16] The autographing session in Germany drew people from Chile and one fan in Cologne summarised: "Tom is a real nice, professional young man, always happy, smiling, laughing, full of power — a real gentleman."^[17] When the fan asked Felton what kids should do if someone like his character is bullying them, he said: "Tell someone. You do not want to keep it to yourself."^[11]

After filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Felton made a guest appearance on Home Farm Twins in 2005, where he played Adam Baker in the short-lived series.^[18] He attended Collectormania on 30 April 2005^[19][20] and London's world premiere for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[21] On 11 November 2005, he and Rupert Grint presented Liz Carnell with the Daily Mirror's Pride of Britain Award for all of her work to raise awareness of the dangers of bullying.^[22][23] Felton worked on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix throughout 2006. Having read more of the Harry Potter books, Felton reflected: "I have had input into Draco. If they give me a line and I do not think it is something he would say, I suggest changing it. They do listen to you and you do feel a part of it."^[12]

Felton at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

In July 2007, Felton visited Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado in a pre-screening charitable event of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.^[24] He was also present at Leicester Square for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 3 July 2007.^[25][26]

On 12 November 2008, Felton appeared alongside Jack Osbourne on Adrenaline Junkie as he participated in various challenges in South African, including a 200ft bungee jump on Bloukrans Bridge, took a ride in a helicopter, followed by a parachute freefall and came face-to-face with Great White sharks.

Felton also appeared in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film of the series.^[27] When asked whether he was looking forward to playing a good guy in the future he answered: "No. Well, I don't know. I suppose for now I'm happy with sticking to what he is. But after the Potter legacy is over I look forward to playing a good guy, or someone different anyway; someone not so spiteful."^[28] Felton also played the character Simon in the 2009 horror/thriller movie The Disappeared.^[29]

Felton posted three music videos on YouTube under an account called "Feltbeats", in which he performs fragments of original songs. Nine songs have been re-recorded and are now available on iTunes: "Time Well Spent," "Time Isn't Healing", "One of These Days", "Under Stars," "Right Place, Right Time," "In My Arms," "All I Need," and "I Will Be There" join the instrumental "Silhouettes in Sunsets." He also recorded an album titled In Good Hands. It includes the six songs "If You Could Be Anywhere", "We Belong", "When Angels Come", "Convinced", "Father of Mine", and "If That's Alright with You".

In 2010, Felton released his original song "Hawaii" on Six String Productions^[30] – an independent record label run by Felton, David Proffitt and Philip Haydn-Slater promoting creative independence and ownership of artists' material and musical talent.

In November 2010 the film White Other, which Tom played the main character, Ray Marsden, was released. Tom's character Ray is a troubled youth in the "ends" of England and Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, also makes an appearance as one of the other main roles in the film.^[31]

Felton had a cameo role in Get Him to the Greek, released on 4 June 2010.^[32] He portrayed the human character Dodge Landon in the 2011 science-fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes,^[3] and played a paranormal investigator in the thriller film The Apparition (2012).^[33]

On 18 March 2011, Felton appeared in a comedy sketch on Red Nose Day 2011 alongside James Corden, Rupert Grint, George Michael, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Gordon Brown MP, Professor Robert Winston and Keira Knightley.^[34]

In 2016, Felton stars as CSI Julian Albert / Doctor Alchemy on The Flash.^[35]

Personal life

In 2003, Felton and his brother Chris worked with Joe Babbitt, the St. Lawrence County Angler's Association, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6, the Chamber of Commerce, and a diverse group of other organisations to form the World Junior Carp Tournament,^[28][36] which involves competitive fishing for ages 11 to 18.^[37]

In early 2015, Felton posted an Instagram photo of himself and Jade Olivia, writing, "To the girl that has my heart. Happy 7 year anniversary." Felton and Olivia have been together since February 2008; they met when filming the Harry Potter series, where Jade was an assistant.^[38]

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

EPs

• Time Well Spent (2008)
• All I Need (2008)
• In Good Hands (2009)
• Hawaii (2011)

Singles

• "Silhouettes in Sunsets" (2008)
• "If You Could Be Anywhere" (2010)

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of Harry Potter films cast members

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Felton.

• Official website
• Six String Productions
• Tom Felton at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Felton's channel on YouTube