More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
You know that person in your life who makes you feel seen? That person who is somehow a witness to all that unfolds? That person who knows — really knows — what is happening to you and what you’re going through, without anything having to be said? For me, that person is Tom Felton.
Even when he doesn’t have the whole picture, he’ll never doubt that I’m coming from a good place and will have done my very best. That’s true friendship, and to be seen and loved like that is one of the great gifts of my life.
‘It means they’re recording us. Obviously.’ I turned my back on her and wandered off, leaving the little girl to gaze wide-eyed around the room. I later found out that her name was Emma Watson. It was her first time in a film environment. I don’t know whether anybody overheard our little exchange, but if they did, they’d definitely have seen a little Slytherin in me.
I’m not Draco. Draco’s not me. But the dividing line is not black and white. It’s painted in shades of grey.
‘I’ve always known I was a duck,’ she said, ‘but I’ve spent my whole life being told I was a chicken. Every time I try to say “quack” the world tells me that I have to say “cluck”. I even started believing that I was a chicken and not a duck. Then we started hanging out and I found somebody else who quacked. And that’s when I thought: To hell with them, I really am a duck!’
Emma has taught me so many valuable lessons over the years, most importantly: don’t always follow the herd, never underestimate the power of a woman and, whatever you do, keep quacking.
Finally, though, he understands what Dumbledore told Harry early in the story: that it’s our choices, not our abilities, that show us what we truly are.
I think about that moment with the director’s chair often, now that Alan has passed away. And not only Alan, of course. Richard Harris, John Hurt, Helen McCrory … the list of actors from the Harry Potter films who are no longer with us inevitably grows. When I think of their passing, I find myself in purgatory because it’s only now that I’ve reached adulthood that I’ve started to understand the effect that they had on me, and how brilliant they were as examples.
I wish, now that I’m older, that I could thank those actors who have passed away for everything they did for us. By their example, they kept us humble and good humoured, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
There’s a reason why I still call Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius, Dad.
In art, as in life, I found it hard to say no to my mum.
The truth is that I’m not good with things being over.
But all things must pass, as my favourite Beatle would say.
Greg would argue he taught me nothing. He was just a witness.
I rescued a Labrador called Willow. I was able to enjoy being myself again.
It’s easy to bask in the sun, not so easy to enjoy the rain. But one can’t exist without the other. The weather always changes. Feelings of sadness and happiness deserve equal mental screen time.
It doesn’t have to be thirty days in a rehabilitation centre. It can be thirty hours over an entire year talking to someone about your feelings, or thirty minutes to set positive intentions for the day, or thirty seconds to breathe and remind yourself that you are here and you are now.
If I’m true and if I’m honest, If I speak my heart complete, I see hope and I see promise, A new world that’s there for me. — ‘Loster’ by Tom Felton
I can’t help but reflect on the importance stories have had in my life, and on the value they hold for so many people. It would be easy to dismiss them. I nearly did just that when, two decades ago, I lined up with a bunch of young hopefuls all wanting to be cast in the story of a boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs.
To be part of those stories is humbling, and feels like an extraordinary honour.
It’s nothing to do with a lack of pride. Quite the opposite. It’s because I’m saving them for the moment that I look forward to most in my future: one day sharing these stories – books first, then the films – with my own little Muggles.
The only true currency we have in life is the effect we have on those around us.
It’s not lost on me that the importance of these is one of the great lessons of the Harry Potter stories. The realisation of this is what makes me a very rich man indeed.
To Jason Isaacs, for being the best second-round dad a son could ask for.
To Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, for all the years at Hogwarts and beyond. To Emma Watson, for quacking with me all these years.
