I’ve always been a fan of Draco in the Harry Potter series. This led me to following Tom Felton on Instagram and watching him in The Flash and a few other things and having it on my radar when this book was published. I was looking for a book in Spanish to read for 2024 and this was a good option so I grabbed it. I made good progress in it before my baby was born but it’s been a slow crawl since then. I had an unexpected chunk of time while the baby napped that let me finish it up last week!
Más allá de la magia (Beyond the Wand) by Tom Felton
Summary from Amazon:
Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame in beloved films like The Borrowers catapulted him into the limelight, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come after he landed the iconic role of the Draco Malfoy, the bleached blonde villain of the Harry Potter movies. For the next ten years, he was at the center of a huge pop culture phenomenon and yet, in between filming, he would go back to being a normal teenager trying to fit into a normal school.
Speaking with great candor and his signature humor, Tom shares his experience growing up as part of the wizarding world while also trying to navigate the muggle world. He tells stories from his early days in the business like his first acting gig where he was mistaken for fellow blonde child actor Macaulay Culkin and his Harry Potter audition where, in a very Draco-like move, he fudged how well he knew the books the series was based on (not at all). He reflects on his experiences working with cinematic greats such as Alan Rickman, Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Maggie Smith, and Ralph Fiennes (including that awkward Voldemort hug). And, perhaps most poignantly, he discusses the lasting relationships he made over that decade of filming, including with Emma Watson, who started out as a pesky nine-year-old whom he mocked for not knowing what a boom mic was but who soon grew into one of his dearest friends. Then, of course, there are the highs and lows of fame and navigating life after such a momentous and life-changing experience.
I have to remember that I read this book over the course of more than four months and my memories of the beginning will be a bit less vivid from my memories of the end. It can be hard to write a review of a full book when it’s stretched over that much time. Tom’s life changes a lot over the course of this book, from his beginnings as the little brother in acting classes to an adult dealing with major life choices. I enjoyed hearing about how he got into acting and the massive sacrifices his family made for his career. I liked how he broke down his relationships with his costars into their own chapters rather than build on them movie by movie. Hearing how he interacted with Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe separately helped me see the differences in each personality and how they engaged with the young actors on set. At times, it felt like this was a memoir for all the cast members and at times more focused on Tom. It was a very unique balance but at times it felt a bit odd to me.
I think Tom was very genuine in his portrayal of himself and his friends. It’s got to be tricky to talk about people who are also famous because they have their own public personalities. There was nothing shocking or revealing in this book that would make you think of another actor differently than you already did. I wonder if Draco’s relativly small role in several movies limited his contact with certain actors and might have led him to have a different perspective of them than the three main cast members.
It was fun to read Tom’s description of his relationship with Jason Isaacs. Their relationship has lasted since the end of filming and it’s fun to read as Tom talks about his ‘Movie Dad.’ Isaacs often gets cast in very serious and villianous roles so hearing the lighter side of him and the respect Tom shows for him was really fun.
I think everyone goes through a period of feeling list like Tom did after the series ended. It had been part of his life for so long and he had some really major lifestyle changes happening as he grew up. Granted, I don’t have a huge bank account and people offering me sports cars, but there’s a similar sense of freedom that comes with finishing school and starting your first ‘real job’ on your own. I could see how Tom struggled with this phase of his life and I’m glad he was really candid about it.
Tom’s descriptions of his early acting and getting the role as Draco were the most fun for me to read. It’s a part of his life that’s really unique from his later life and shows a lot about his family. His mom made a lot of sacrifices for him to have a young acting career. The memories he has about it and how he came to be cast as Draco were fun. I liked how similar he was to his character in his youth though that seems to have evolved a lot as he grew.
As fun as it was, I wasn’t a huge fan of the chapters where Tom went through his Potter coworkers and talked about his memories of them. It felt a little strained. He had a lot of details about his early life and his life after Potter. The memories of his castmates felt like a bit more like single instances that were expanded on to make a chapter. I think I would have preferred it organized chronologically, from first through final film, rather thank jumping around in time but sticking with a single coworker.
We hear often how hard it can be to be a child actor. I’m sure I’m not the only one who watched the HBO series Quiet on Set recently. Tom had struggles, as many do, and I’m glad he was open and honest about them. It was a little jarring to see someone I admired in my childhood talk about issues they had from being a part of something I loved so much. It can be hard to remember that the media we consume is hard work and the performers we adore are real people. Tom and Draco are two separate personalities and people with very different needs.
Writer’s Takeaway: Tom likely felt he needed to do a lot with this book. Not only was it the story of his experiences, but it’s a story that touched so many other people of public interest. I think he went on a bit too much about other people for a book about him. It was distracting and took me out of his story more than I would have liked.
An overall fun read but it didn’t completely suck me in. Three out of Five Stars.
Until next time, write on.
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