The new issue of Mexico's "Cinemania" magazine has a feature on Half-Blood Prince that contains an interview with several of the cast and crew. Courtesy of our friends at Harrypotterla, scans are available here, with the translation here. Of interest are comments by actor Tom Felton on his role as Draco Malfoy as he speaks to the things Draco has been through, including the bullying by his father Lucius Malfoy. Quotage:
The director and I talked a lot about it. Obviously Draco loses his
father, he’s alone, he wants to show his independence and he’s the
Chosen One. He’s been very jealous of Harry all his life, he’s been
jealous of the attention he gets, and now it’s the opportunity to show
what he’s really capable of. But at the same time he’s terrified and
deep down he knows he can’t do what he’s been assigned to do. So
there’s a very strong conflict of emotions. To me it’s a challenge
because I have to think deeper about my performance. It’s not all about
putting a mean face for Harry.
Did he [David Yates] ask for anything in particular when he directed you this time?
No, but I’m very thankful for the extra time he put into me and my
character this time around. E spoke a lot about our character. David is
trying to outline his complexity. This year Draco is not interested in
bullying Harry. He’s got more serious stuff to pay attention to. For
years he has been bullied by his father and that’s why he is the way he
is. I wanted to show that side of him, not to make people feel sorry
for him but to at least identify themselves with him. The best thing is
that now I get to wear better clothes. Draco is very concerned about
his style, and that’s part of his look as a villain.
I cannot wait to see how he handles the character of Draco in the sixth installment, but it does appear he does so very well, conveying on screen the rich moral complexity that motivates the character.
@simos {WBM}
She didn’t say it, because she didn’t need to.. I mean, isn’t it obvious that though Lucius Malfoy loves his son, he’s also very conscious about family pride and all that.
Anyways, I love how Tom Felton understands Draco so well =)
I don’t think Lucius really loves his son – that’s why Lucius’ reversal of character in Deathly Hallows felt so unbelievable to me; (Narcissa is obviously a different case)
Actually studying families from years before in both literature and history, fathers weren’t doting to their children, especially sons. They tended to be strict and mean, believing this would bring their son to be a good man. Their relationships often are viewed as cold and uncarring. This was especially true for the wealthy. Mothers often doted over all the children.
Lucius is your typical father from way back to the late 1800’s, he wants the best for Draco. Buy putting him down and not showing him love, makes Lucius believe that Draco will grow up strong. He wants his son to carry the name Malfoy on with some dignity and hate those lesser than he is. His father obviously believes that by being loving is a form of weakness. Narcissa’s job would have been to show him love and care.
The ending for the family may have seemed unreal but it was when they realized their family should come first. In that same room, the Weasleys were grieving the lost of their son. It could easily have been the Malfoys mourning the death of their son and heir.
Lucius may have at times been stupid (very stupid), I think when push came to shove he realized that the only things important were Cissy and Draco.
wow, this is a really in depth time for draco and obviously he feels the need to prove himself but when push came to shove, he knew deep down that he couldn’t. Draco isn’t the bully character everyone knows, hes more than that in this film adn the next, i think it shows more of his confused, struggling side in this movie adn the next. i cant wait to see how that is portrayed! (go slitherin!)
Draco is only evil on a small scale. Hes not evil enough to kill someone. Hes only evil enough to attack another student (like Harry) or bully first years.
I think NarcissaABlack has it exactly; this is the way I see the relationship between Lucius & Draco. The son tried hard to live up to his father’s expectations, and it put a lot of pressure on him.
when u see the commercial for the movie it gives u a little to much info. U can tell that Draco has to kill someone and he’s hesitant to do it they should’ve givven less info. I still am going to see the movie! HP ROCKS!
I think Tom has really grown up alot during this film series. He seems to really understand Draco alot more now than he did in the beginning.
I see there’s a bit of an argument going on concerning whether or not Draco has been bullied by Lucius. Well, he has. In the scene that was cut from the COS film, Lucius and Draco go into Borgin and Burkes and Lucius tells Draco not to touch anything. Draco then gets in trouble with Lucius for not doing as he was told. Also, and I’m not sure if I’m remembering the correct book, but Lucius really gets on Draco’s case for not getting better grades at Hogwarts. Lucius is quite irritated that the muggle-born Hermione Granger is doing better than his pure-blood son. I think that is also from COS, though I could be wrong. Anyway, I agree with Tom that Draco is bullied by his father, though not necessarily in the physical sense.
This will be Draco’s shining [but unhappy] moment! A chance to "prove" himself….and he will…but not as one might think! Tom Felton is excellent, and I can’t wait to see his take on Malfoy, this time around!
He was very fond of his wand, and as far as he was concerned its relation to Voldemort's wand was something it couldn't help... However, he really hoped that Mr. Ollivander wasn't about to tell the room about it. He had a funny feeling Rita Skeeter's Quic
I cannot wait to see how he handles the character of Draco in the sixth installment, but it does appear he does so very well, conveying on screen the rich moral complexity that motivates the character.