Tom Felton is returning to the Wizarding World — but this time on Broadway.
On Thursday, June 5, the original “Harry Potter” actor announced on Today that he would be reprising his role as Draco Malfoy in the Broadway production “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
The show is set to run for 19 weeks, beginning on November 11 at the Lyric Theatre in New York City, according to Today.
“It’s very much a pinch-me situation,” Felton told Today hosts, Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin. “I keep thinking I’m dreaming. I let go of that character 16 years ago, and now I get to step back into his shoes, as a father this time, in a new story.”
Felton first made Draco an unforgettable antagonist in the original eight films as he tormented Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter, along with his two best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).
While this will mark Felton’s Broadway debut, he is also the first member of the original cast to join the stage production, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As the “Harry Potter” series was a “huge” part of his childhood, Felton admitted that he “cried” as he donned the character’s iconic platinum wig, according to People.
“Being a part of the Harry Potter films has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” the actor shared with Today. “Joining this production will be a full-circle moment for me, because when I begin performances in ‘Cursed Child' this fall, I’ll also be the exact age Draco is in the play.”
And Felton isn’t the only one that feels honored to have him back at Hogwarts.
“It’s not lost on us that this is a cultural moment charged with nostalgia, evolution, and emotion,” said the show’s producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, according to Today. “Tom’s return to Hogwarts bridges generations of fans and breathes new life into a beloved story. We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Tom back ‘home’ but also into a new family: our Broadway company.”
What is ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ about?
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It was written by Thorne and directed by Tiffany, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The play takes place 19 years after “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” with Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione sending their children off to Hogwarts, according to People.
“The play is such an independent story from the ‘Potter’ films that I grew up with. We start 19 years later ... now we’re no longer children. We actually are the parents,” Felton said in his statement on Today. “So as much as it is reprising an old role for me, it’s very much treading into new, unfamiliar territory. I know him quite well as a kid. I don’t know him that well as an adult. So that’s the that’s the exciting challenge ahead for me.”
Originally, the play was performed in two parts with a run time of more than five hours. But since its opening, it has been revised to be one part, with a run time of under three hours, per The Hollywood Reporter.
While “Cursed Child” hasn’t yet been turned into a film, the director of the first two “Harry Potter” movies, Chris Columbus, said that he would be willing to helm an adaptation of the sequel, with Radcliffe, Grint and Watson to play their adult counterparts, People reported.
Where has Tom Felton been since ‘Harry Potter’?
Since his time as the platinum blonde Slytherin, Felton has been in a variety of films and TV shows, including “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011), “The Flash” (2016), “They Will Kill You” and “Fackham Hall,” according to IMDb.
Felton is also no stranger to the stage as he made his first West End debut in 2022, starring as the lead, Sam, in “2:22 A Ghost Story” as well as in 2024 when he played the lead role, Bob Edwards, in “A Child of Science,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.