Tom Felton took the stage Saturday and was met by a very enthusiastic reaction from the fans in attendance. His first time at Wizard World New Orleans, he learned from a local that part of growing up in the city was having a “costume closet”. Anyone who lives in the area or knows anything about the “Big Easy” understands that this is a place just made for fan conventions. New Orleans is famous for being a town that loves to party, dress up, and share the love (and food) with anyone who wants to join in. You can’t get much more “con perfect” than that.
The panel started out with a question from a fan about A Very Potter Musical. Felton said he was very impressed with the performance of Lauren Lopez as Draco and equally impressed with the overall production itself. He jokingly suggested that Lopez should’ve played Draco in the actual films while he took on the parody role.
Quite literally growing up on the sets of the Harry Potter films, Felton was surrounded by a lot of extremely talented people. He admitted that he was scared of Alan Rickman for several years before he mustered up enough courage to actually converse with the esteemed actor. Rickman supposedly remained in character as Snape between takes, so that cold, gruff attitude carried through even when they weren’t filming, which was a source of entertainment for Felton and his cast mates. And although he’s inarguably a big-name star, Alan Rickman insisted on queueing up for his lunch every day even though he could have easily had his meals delivered.
The inevitable question about Harry Potter fan fiction arose when one audience member asked if Felton had read any. He admitted he had and that he was “kinda scarred as a youngster” reading some of it. Apparently, Draco and Hagrid “did some terrible things together” which is enough to keep me away from fan fiction forever.
If the subject of fan fiction wasn’t weird enough, an innocent question about Felton’s fondest memory from filming the Harry Potter films took an even stranger turn. As he began to answer the question, he said he “had a great time in the bathrooms” while “having the wand fight with Harry”. As laughter peppered the audience, moderator Aaron Sagers pointed out that Felton was “creating more fan fiction” with his oddly worded answer. Yes, Tom Felton, I think you’ve just added fuel to the fan fiction fire.
Be sure to check out all our convention coverage of Wizard World New Orleans, San Diego Comic Con, Dragon Con and more by clicking the “Comic Con” button on the menu bar at the top of every page. We’ve got a ton of convention news covering cons all across the country. While it’s not exactly the same as attending a con, it’s the next best thing. Check out what you’ve been missing, then maybe you’ll take the plunge and join us at a fan convention this year!
