Tom Felton says Ralph Fiennes improvised creepy Voldemort hug in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
In Tom Felton's new memoir, he recalls the moment Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) went in for the embrace in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Aux News Tom Felton
There are a few moments from the Harry Potter series that have entered the meme hall of fame for being unintentionally funny. (See: “Not me, not Hermione, you.”) Recall the moment in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 when Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) accepts Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) back into the fold with a creepy hug. It’s chilling in the context of the film, but American audiences found it “absolutely hilarious,” Felton writes in his new memoir Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard (per Insider).
“I must have done that walk 30 or 40 times. For many of the takes I did the same thing: walking past Voldemort, keeping my distance, pacing slowly, head down, slightly terrified. Ralph would look at me differently every time. Sometimes he’d smile. Sometimes he wouldn’t. Sometimes he would break off his monologue and tell me to go back,” Felton explains in the book. “In the middle of one take, as I was pacing towards him for the umpteenth time, he lifted his arm just a fraction. It was the slightest movement, but enough to stop me in my tracks and think: is he trying to hug me?”
He continues, “Uncertain, I shimmied towards him, my arms down by my side. He put his own arms around me and gave me perhaps the most uninviting hug ever captured on film. Even on set it chilled me. A hug from Voldemort was scary for Draco, and it was equally awkward for Tom. It gave me goosebumps then, and the memory gives me goosebumps now.”
“That was one take out of 50,” Felton writes. “I had no idea they were going to use it until I saw the film for the first time at the premiere in London. The audience was completely silent. There was something so very twisted about that moment, something so wrong about watching Voldemort’s warped display of affection, that I could sense everybody around me holding their breath uncomfortably.”
The scene certainly had a lasting impact, though Felton confesses he’s confused by those who find it funny. “To this day, I have no idea why,” he admits, “But I love it!”
17 Comments
Wasn’t this a well-known thing for everyone at this point?
Fuck that little shit Draco. He isn’t redeemed. He isn’t a good guy. He is nothing but a little proto-Nazi who saved his own ass.
but if it was a teen girl actor…
He shimmied?
I thought he was ambling, personally.
moseying even.
Come on, it was an obvious meander.
He was sashaying like She-Hulk in a sundress!
That’s a real thing, here’s a pic
Here comes the hotstepper
Shimmy? Shimmy? Ya.
Gimme the mic so I can . . . never mind, I’m dead. . .
He did the shimmy slide
It was electric!
I don’t think people found it hilarious. Any laughter was almost certainly of the uncomfortable variety since Draco looked like a zombie by that point (being the spy who creates the door for the attack and thus being responsible for classmates’ and teachers’ deaths will do that to you).
It was funny when someone re-edited the scene so the hug goes on for an uncomfortably long time, but no one was chuckling when I saw it
For a while, I was an expat living in the US. A couple of friends and I went to see Pacific Rim went it came out. There was a scene where they present the different pilot teams. For some reason that still escapes me, when the Russian team is presented, the whole movie theater exploded in laughter except for the three of us. We looked at each other to see if anyone saw what was funny but neither had a clue. So I certainly believe that Tom’s account of people laughing at the hug for some weird reason.
Because this couldn’t be a more ridiculous caricature. I can understand not getting it if you’re not steeped in American pop culture, but yeah I’m not surprised the audience laughed. This looks like a parody of every over the top 80s-era depiction of Russian military and was so absurd I’m surprised they didn’t have Hunnam break the fourth wall with a quick look into the camera. It would have been like having the Australians dressed like Crocodile Dundee.