Tom Felton on the Bullying of Draco by Lucius and More

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.