Tom Felton "Beyond the Wand"

Ebury Spotlight, London, 2022

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved this book but I’ll do my best.

 

In Beyond the Wand, Tom Felton narrates ~30 years of his life. It is a fairly intimate memoir: he shares a lot about his family, the ups and downs of being a child actor, his mental health issues, his hard disappointments and deepest joys. He talks about his childhood before the Harry Potter films and then later about the ways they changed (and didn’t change) his life. For example, he tells funny anecdotes about a guy who wanted to adopt him and about that time he met Sir Anthony Hopkins, as well as heartwarming stories of his friendship with Emma Watson and his lovely relationship with Jason Isaacs. (In case you don’t know, Jason Isaacs is the actor who played Lucius Malfoy.)

First of all, let’s make one thing clear here. I was never – and I’m still not – a Draco Malfoy kinda girl. In fact, I had a huge crush on Harry/Daniel when I was like 11, so I think it’s fair to say I was not biased going into this book. Draco has never been my favourite character and, to be completely honest, I just didn’t care about him at all. (That changed a bit in books 6-7 when I reread the series from a grown-up point of view 10 years later.)

Now, having read the book, I find Tom Felton to be a very down to earth guy who isn’t afraid to talk about his mistakes and to laugh at himself (and what a great sense of humour!). I very much enjoyed his self-deprecating jokes and sarcasm. I am not exaggerating when I say that I read this book in bed late at night, and some paragraphs made me laugh so hard that I was afraid I’d wake up my partner. Felton definitely doesn’t take himself too seriously and he seems to be as sincere as he possibly can while narrating his past.

I have to point out though – because it irks me – how some reviews have stated that Felton’s writing feels fake and censored because he only says nice things about people. I strongly disagree. I think it’s wonderful how respectfully he writes about fellow actors. It’s refreshing to read a memoir that doesn’t try to become a bestseller by “uncovering secrets”, making “shocking revelations”, and talking shit about other people.

I suppose it is sort of ingrained in human nature that we desperately want to see the dark side in everyone. In a way it makes them more human. And I get it, in fiction I absolutely adore villains and deeply disturbed characters, they usually have a lot more depth than positive characters. However, in real life I like to surround myself with genuinely nice and good people. And that’s how reading this book felt for me, it made me feel warm and cosy and I loved that he had a great relationship with the actors on the Harry Potter set (and others, of course) and that lifelong friendships have emerged from that experience. There is no way to know whether it’s all true or not, but does it really matter? I have no idea and you know what, I don’t care. It made me indescribably happy to be in the company of my childhood heroes (and villains) again. As a reading experience it was like a big warm hug, so comforting, and apparently it was exactly what I needed. For that, I shall forever be grateful.

Just a heads-up, though. Beyond the Wand carries a certain level of nostalgia you can probably only sense when you’ve grown up with HP books and/or films because it’s impossible to explain this feeling to anyone who hasn’t experienced it. So, if you know absolutely nothing about Harry Potter or any other Tom Felton films/projects, it is probably not going to be a very interesting read for you.

-

Robbie was always keen to remind us that we weren’t there to cure cancer. We weren’t saving the world. We were simply making a film. We should remember that, not get too big for our boots and try to have a laugh along the way. 

 

An actor brings something of themselves to a part, working with elements of his or her own life and fashioning them into something different. I’m not Draco. Draco’s not me. But the dividing line is not black and white. It’s painted in shades of grey.