If you've come this far, maybe you're willing to go a little further?
Kidzworld: During the final battle, Draco basically ignores Lucius. Do you think their relationship was strained from that point on? In the epilogue, he (Draco) seems like a loving parent.
* Tom: Yeah. It’s open for interpretation. It was in the book and, hopefully, we’ve done that in the film as well. That’s not a bad way to look at it. I think at that moment when he gets called over, his dad’s voice doesn’t do much to him. It almost makes him say “I’m not moving”. But, when his mom calls him over, I suppose it’s like in real life really, sons have a soft spot for their moms. If my mom asked me to do something, I’d do it for sure.
* I suppose that’s the moment where he realizes that Lucius hasn’t quite been the wonderful influence that he once thought he was. Throughout his life, Draco has wanted to be Lucius and almost in that moment he realizes, “I don’t want to be anything like him” so yeah that’s nice. It’s 19 years later and he’s a lot better parent than Lucius was I’m sure.
Kidzworld: There is a change in the film in the scene in the great hall where it’s almost like Draco’s parents defected, versus just walking away. What do you think about this scene in the film and the way it originally read?
* Tom: Yeah, I confess. We actually shot a few different things. There was so much going on that David [Yates, director] wanted to shoot a few different scenarios to see which was going to play the best. There’s a couple where Draco is just walking away by himself and another with myself and Narsissa in the Great Hall and another classic where Lucius got trampled and you never saw him again so I was really intrigued to find out which bit they used. There’s something nice and very harrowing about watching them just walk away especially when it’s mother and son and Lucius sort of stumbles away; a classic example of the Malfoy trait that survival is key. Jason says it best when Lucius has to climb over his son’s and wife’s twitching corpses to end up sitting at the right hand of Voldemort. That’s exactly what they’re about I think. Their number one instinct is survival so I think that’s what they’re doing there.
Kidzworld: What did Lucius get trampled by?
* Tom: Death Eaters. There was this “Charge!” moment and the Death Eaters just ran over him. It was fantastic.
Kidzworld: What was your reaction when you saw the aging process that they did to you?
* Tom: Shocking! I mean come on? Nineteen years and they’re basing it on Jason Isaacs. He looks like his dad. It was a lot of fun and cool. They prepared for months. They wanted pictures of my dad and my brothers and did loads and loads of endless tests. I think it (my old-age make-up) was a message to kids to say that crime doesn’t pay and that anyone with a goatee musn’t be trusted. I’m not sure. It was a lot more fun to take it off at the end of the day and go back to my normal age. It was one of the final scenes that I shot so it was a nice way of finishing off for me, especially since it was the day I was the kid being put on the train. It was kind of like my life flashing before my eyes but it was a nice way to wrap up.
Kidzworld: Also, in the epilogue, Draco’s on screen wife is someone you know personally. Can you talk about how she was cast for the film?
* Tom: Sure, the lovely Jade (Olivia, a stunt assistant on the film). Both of our arms were twisted to get her involved, first mine then hers. David Heyman, the producer came to me and then David Yates loved the idea and followed up. Jade is actually my real girlfriend and has been for three and a half years so it was a lot of fun onscreen to play hubby and wife for a bit and have a kid for three days. Three days is a good amount of time (laughter). It’s perfect because, by the end of it, it’s like “See you later”. It was very nice to be a little family for a while.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 is set to be released on July 15.
Be sure to follow the link at the bottom of the article to read the full interview.