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Harry Potter star reveals 'emotional' return to famous role: 'I keep thinking I'm dreaming'


The Harry Potter franchise continues


Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint as Hermoine, Draco, Harry and Ron in Harry Potter
Rebecca Lewis
Rebecca LewisLos Angeles correspondent
June 5, 2025
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Harry Potter fans have been left over the moon after Tom Felton revealed he will be returning to his iconic character of Draco Malfoy. 

The British actor will reprise the role in the Broadway stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

"It’s very much a pinch-me situation," Tom told Today's Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin on June 5. "I keep thinking I’m dreaming. I let go of that character 16 years ago, and now I get to step back into his shoes, as a father this time, in a new story."

om Felton attends the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on February 16, 2025 in London, England© Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
Tom Felton will reprise his role

The play premiered in 2016 in London and moved to Broadway in 2018; set 19 years after the action of the book and movie series, it follows the children of the now-adult Draco, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Grainger.

"We start 19 years later," added Tom. 

"Now we’re no longer children. We actually are the parents. So as much as it is reprising an old role for me, it’s very much treading into new, unfamiliar territory. I know him quite well as a kid. I don’t know him that well as an adult."

Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy in Cursed Child
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy in Cursed Child

Tom, who began playing the role of Draco when he was 14, admitted that it was "very, very easy to get emotional" when he first began rehearsals.

"When they put my blond wig on for the theater production, I just immediately cried. It was just sort of like a blast from the past," he shared.

Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy

Tom, 37, is the first actor from the move franchise to appear in the stage version.He will enjoy a 19-week run beginning in November 2025. His past theatre credits include 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2022 alongside Doctor Who's Mandip Gill.

Tom's news comes a week after the upcoming HBO series announced Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout were to take on the iconic characters of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron for the reboot.

Daniel Raadcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupetr Grint as Harry, Hermoine and Ron in Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint as Harry, Hermoine and Ron in Harry Potter

Arabella has been on the West End, having starred as Matilda in Matilda the Musical, as well as Control in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production Starlight Express, while Dominic starred in the upcoming movie Grow alongside Nick Frost, who will play Hagrid in the Harry Potter TV show.

The trio join the already named cast, including Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore and Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall.

The show has been described as a faithful adaptation of the Harry Potter novels, with seven seasons to stream exclusively on HBO Max.

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