Beloved Harry Potter star reprises iconic role
A familiar wand is being dusted off – and the wizarding world is buzzing.
After nearly 15 years away from the role that made him a household name, a beloved Harry Potter star is stepping back into the spotlight – but not in a way fans might expect.
Tom Felton, best known for his icy portrayal of Draco Malfoy is officially returning to the franchise – this time on stage, in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The actor, now 37, portrayed the beloved blonde bully in the Harry Potter movies from 2001 until 2011.
He shared the exciting news on the US Today show on Thursday morning, saying, 'Being a part of the Harry Potter films has been one of the greatest honours of my life.
'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.'
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, based off a screenplay written by J. K. Rowling, takes place 19 years after the original series ended.
First debuting in London's West End in 2016, It follows the children of Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco as they head off to Hogwarts.
'It's surreal to be stepping back into his shoes – and of course his iconic platinum blond hair – and I am thrilled to be able to see his story through and to share it with the greatest fan community in the world,' he added.
In a clip posted by Felton, the actor can be seen slipping into black robes and adorning his hands with the notable Slytherin signet ring.
He then repeats his iconic phrase, 'Scared, Potter?' before the words 'Draco is back' flash onto the screen.
The clip, which has gathered nearly 3 million views in less than 12 hours, has naturally sent nostalgic fans into a frenzy.
'Is this a dream or what?!,' said one excited viewer.
'I'm sorry, what?! Currently screaming,' wrote another.
'I screamed,' said a third.
Felton has remained closely tied to the franchise since the films wrapped up in 2011, frequently attending fan events and reflecting on his time in the wizarding world through interviews and his 2022 memoir, beyond the wand.
Tom will join the cast in November and star in the New York show for 19 weeks, concluding his run in March 2026.
The casting comes after Felton's on-screen father in the films, Jason Isaacs, scored the role of a lifetime in the beloved The White Lotus series.
Starring as disgraced financier Timothy Ratliff, the audience closely followed his dark storyline as he grappled with financial ruin during a family trip to Thailand.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
How Harvey Weinstein's New York rape and sexual assault retrial unfolded
Harvey Weinstein has admitted in an interview he "acted immorally" but maintained his innocence at the end of a six-week retrial in New York. Warning: This story contains details about sexual abuse that readers may find distressing Weinstein, the former Hollywood honcho turned #MeToo outcast, is charged in New York with raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola, separately, in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. As Weinstein awaits his verdict in New York for a second time, here is how the past six weeks unfolded. Weinstein is on trial again after a New York state appeals court threw out his 2020 convictions, citing irregularities in the original proceedings. In particular, it included evidence from women whose charges were not part of the case. The former movie industry titan's 23-year prison sentence for the initial conviction was thrown out, but he remains imprisoned for separate offences in California. Miriam Haley returns to the courtroom at before Harvey Weinstein's retrial in state court in Manhattan on Friday, May 2. ( AP: John Angelillo/Pool ) Miriam Haley, who also goes by Mimi Haley, was the first accuser to take the stand. She also testified in Weinstein's first trial. Born in Finland and raised in Sweden, Ms Haley, 48, is a former entertainment producer now working in advertising. She met Weinstein through a mutual connection. She alleges Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to stop by his apartment. She had worked briefly as a production assistant on the Weinstein-produced TV show Project Runway, and his company had booked her a flight to Los Angeles the next day to attend a movie premiere. She testified Weinstein backed her into a bedroom and pushed her onto a bed, holding her down as she tried to get up and pleaded: "No, no — it's not going to happen." Ms Haley and two of her friends testified she told them soon after that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. She maintains she was never interested in any sexual or romantic relationship with Weinstein but still wanted his help professionally. Weinstein's lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, questioned why Ms Haley would agree to go to Weinstein's apartment after being put off by some of his prior behaviour, including what she described as him barging into her home as he sought to persuade her to go to Paris with him. Ms Haley said she thought it would be "weird" to refuse the invitation to his Manhattan loft, since his company had paid for the LA flight she was taking the next day. Ms Haley stayed in continued, sporadic contact with Weinstein for about three years afterward, according to testimony and documents. At times, she asked him for work, premiere tickets and financial backing for an online TV show she was trying to launch. "The other stuff is neither here nor there. It doesn't mean that I wasn't sexually assaulted," Haley said. Ms Bonjean also queried her about her continued interactions with Weinstein and his assistants, about her frequent travels and famous acquaintances at the time, and her 2020 lawsuit against Weinstein. It ended in a $US475,000 ($730,000) settlement. Kaja Sokola Kaja Sokola arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court before Harvey Weinstein's trial on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. ( AP: John Angelillo/Pool ) Former model Kaja Sokola was the second accuser to testify in the retrial. Prosecutors spoke to her privately in 2020, but her claim was never told to the jury in the original trial. The Polish-born 39-year-old is a psychotherapist and author who recently launched a film production company. She sued Weinstein after industry whispers about his behaviour toward women became a chorus of public accusations in 2017. Ms Sokola eventually received $US3.5 million ($5.4 million) in compensation. The criminal charge stems from one instance when Ms Sokola maintains Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in a Manhattan hotel in May 2006. Ms Sokola began modelling at 14 but told jurors she was always more interested in acting, so she was hopeful when she was introduced to Weinstein at a New York nightclub in 2002 and he invited her to lunch to talk about acting. Instead, he steered her to his Manhattan apartment and told her to take her clothes off, saying that actors had to be comfortable disrobing in films, she testified. Ms Sokola took off her blouse and followed him into a bathroom because, she said, "I was 16 years old, and I was alone with a man for the first time, and I didn't know what else to do." She said she told Weinstein she objected to what was happening, but that he put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals. Ms Sokola said she saw Weinstein's eyes — "black and scary" — staring at her in a bathroom mirror as it happened. Afterward, she said, he told her to keep quiet, saying he had made Hollywood careers and could help her acting dreams come true. In 2006, Weinstein arranged for her to be an extra for a day in the film The Nanny Diaries, and he separately agreed to meet Ms Sokola and her visiting elder sister. After the three chatted, Ms Sokola said, Weinstein told her he had a script to show her in his hotel room, and she went up with him. There, she said, Weinstein pushed her onto a bed and stripped off her boots, her stockings, her underwear, and something indelible. "My soul was removed from me," she testified. She said he held her down while ignoring her pleas of "please don't, please stop, I don't want this." Ms Sokola said she tried to push him away but was no match against Weinstein's physical heft. She rejoined her sister but said nothing about being assaulted. Ms Sokola said she didn't want to tell her sister that Weinstein had treated her with such disrespect, she testified. Throughout a day of questioning, Weinstein's lawyer Mike Cibella suggested Ms Sokola hadn't told the full story of her interactions with Weinstein. He repeatedly asked whether she invited Weinstein up to a New York apartment — and into the bedroom — where she was staying in 2005. She denied it. Mr Cibella also presented Ms Sokola's journal, which she had kept for an alcohol abuse program, where she names at least two people who had sexually assaulted her, neither one of them Weinstein. She testified she didn't write about him because she couldn't come to terms with it at the time, and her sponsor was in the film business and knew who Weinstein was. Jessica Mann Jessica Mann arrives at state court in Manhattan for before the start of Harvey Weinstein's trial on Thursday, May 22, 2025. ( AP: Spencer Platt/Pool ) Jessica Mann was the last of the three accusers to testify in the retrial. She also spoke at the 2020 trial. Ms Mann, a cosmetologist and hairstylist, said she met Weinstein at a party in late 2012 or early 2013, when she was 27 and had recently moved to LA to try to launch an acting career. She said he took an interest in her ambitions, and they had a few follow-up meetings that alternated between professional talk and boundary-pushing, particularly a request for a massage that Ms Mann said she reluctantly gave him. Weinstein invited her to an Oscars bash that Ms Mann, new to Hollywood glitz, attended in her high-school prom dress. She said she wasn't attracted to Weinstein and initially refused his first sexual advance, but eventually succumbed to him performing oral sex because Weinstein said he would not let her leave until she let him "do something." Although she felt confused and "defiled," she then agreed to consensual encounters with the then-married man, she said. Partly, she worried about the professional consequences of alienating a powerful producer who had just dangled the prospect of movie roles. She also recalled thinking that "if I was in a relationship, maybe it would feel different," and that "maybe he did like me." In March 2013, she travelled to New York with a friend. After they made plans for breakfast with Weinstein, he showed up early and got a room at Ms Mann's hotel, over her protests, she said. Weeping on the witness stand, she said she went upstairs with Weinstein to try to avoid a public argument and told him, "I don't want to do this," but he shoved the door shut as she tried to leave. After Weinstein demanded she undress and grabbed her arms, she said, she "just gave up." Ms Mann said he then had sex with her — after, she believes, injecting himself with an erection-promoting drug that she later found in the bathroom trash. Ms Mann described Weinstein grabbing, dragging, forcefully undressing and raping her in a Beverly Hills, California, hotel room around the beginning of 2014, after she told him she was dating someone else. After leaving he defence table Ms Mann aimed a finger at her eyes and then at him. It prompted lawyer Arthur Aidala to request a mistrial, also complaining she shouldn't have been asked about the LA rape as Weinstein wasn't charged with it. During questioning, Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala noted she accepted party invitations, dinners and rides from Weinstein and underscored the fact that she continued to see the producer after he allegedly raped her. Mr Aidala also zeroed in on her testimony that she tried to reject Weinstein's first sexual advance but ultimately pretended to enjoy it. Ewa Sokola Ewa Sokola arrives to Harvey Weinstein's court case in New York, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. ( AP: Seth Wenig ) Kaja's Sokola sister Ewa Sokola met with Kaja and Weinstein the day of the alleged assault, she told jurors. Prosecutors have said it happened after Weinstein arranged for Ms Sokola to be an extra in the film The Nanny Diaries and met her visiting older sister, whom she was trying to impress. "She was proud of knowing him," her sister, cardiologist Dr Ewa Sokola, told jurors. She said the three of them met in a hotel lobby, chatted about Italian movies and the heavy-set Weinstein's heart health, and then he and the model left the table together. Kaja Sokola was tense when she returned about a half-hour later — "like somebody waiting for the result of an exam" or the Oscars — but didn't say anything about the alleged sexual assault, Dr Sokola told jurors. She said she was shocked to learn about the claim over a decade later, when she read about it in a magazine article. Christine Pressman Christine Pressman, a friend of Miriam Haley, testified she was told long ago about the sexual assault. "She had zero interest in dating him or sleeping with him," Ms Pressman said, describing Ms Haley as "distraught" when she later disclosed the alleged sexual assault. Ms Pressman said she advised against turning to police. "I said, 'Harvey Weinstein is the king of New York. He's extremely powerful. You are not. You're here on a tourist visa. Just let it go,'" the former model, musician and actor recalled. She teared up as she added that she now knows her guidance "was wrong." Under questioning from Ms Bonjean, Ms Pressman acknowledged that at some point before the alleged assault, she suggested Ms Haley date Weinstein. Ms Pressman later explained that she had been frustrated by her friend's taste in men — guys who were lanky, cerebral "and broke," as Ms Pressman put it. Elizabeth Entin Elizabeth Entin, pictured at the 2020 trial. ( AP: Craig Ruttle ) Elizabeth Entin, Ms Haley's former roommate, said a shaken Ms Haley told her that month that Weinstein had forcibly performed oral sex on her. Echoing her testimony at the first trial, Ms Entin said she suggested Haley call a lawyer, but her friend seemed disinclined. Elizabeth Perz Elizabeth Perz, an ex-aide for Weinstein, told the jury she kept a list of female "friends of Harvey" to invite to events and sometimes considered them a special category for guest lists. "A 'friend of Harvey' was a woman that he'd meet at events or parties or festivals or — somewhere," she said. The then-married Weinstein asked his assistants to invite these women to events, Ms Perz said. Jurors were shown a roster of well over a dozen names, which Ms Perz said was kept in the office at Weinstein's company. The names were broken down by geography, such as "LA Friends" or "Cannes/Etc/all invites." One "LA Friends" entry was Jessica Mann. Helga Samuelsen Helga Samuelsen shared a New York apartment with Kaja Sokola. Ms Samuelsen testified one evening the doorbell rang, Ms Sokola answered it and there was Weinstein. Ms Sokola previously said Weinstein had not spent time at their apartment. Ms Samuelsen recalled Weinstein and Ms Sokola went into a bedroom, closed the door and emerged about a half-hour later, when Ms Sokola saw Weinstein out. Ms Samuelsen said she never spoke to Ms Sokola about the visit. Having met Weinstein briefly in summer 2005, she later sought his help as she tried to launch a music career. He made some introductions and invited her to write a never-used movie score, Ms Samuelsen said, and she formed a New York-area cabaret act around 2019 with a woman close to him. Ms Samuelsen now works in insurance in her native Denmark. Talita Maia Talita Maia pictured at the 2020 trial. ( AP: Seth Wenig ) Talita Maia gave testimony via transcript read by court employees. Ms Maia and Ms Mann were roommates and friends in 2013 but later fell out. According to Ms Maia, Ms Mann never mentioned in those days that Weinstein had hurt her in any way. Both Ms Maia and another witness, Thomas Richards, met up with Ms Mann and Weinstein shortly after Ms Mann has said she was raped. Both witnesses testified that they saw nothing amiss. The two sides took very different tones in their closing arguments. Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, veered into folksy jokes and theatricality — sometimes re-enacting witnesses' behaviour — as he contended that his client engaged in a "courting game," not crimes. Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg, as direct as Mr Aidala was discursive, urged jurors to focus on Weinstein's accusers and their days of gruelling testimony. "This was not a 'courting game,' as Mr Aidala wants you to believe. This was not a 'transaction,'" she told jurors. Mr Aidala argued everything that happened between the ex-producer and his accusers was a consensual, if "transactional," exchange of favours. The attorney accused prosecutors of "trying to police the bedroom" and zeroing in on the man seen as "the poster boy, the original sinner, for the #MeToo movement." Mr Aidala depicted the former studio boss as a self-made New Yorker, while painting Weinstein's accusers as troubled and canny "women with broken dreams" who plied him for movie opportunities and other perks, kept engaging with him for years and then turned on him to cash in on his #MeToo undoing. All three received compensation through legal processes separate from the criminal trial. Ms Blumberg countered that Weinstein interpreted a sexual "no" as a cue to "push a little bit more, and if they still say no, just take it anyway." She argued that his accusers stayed in friendly contact with Weinstein because they were trying to work in entertainment, and they feared their careers would be squashed if they crossed him. "He chose people who he thought would be the perfect victims, who he could rape and keep silent," the prosecutor said. "He underestimated them." Although Weinstein did not take the stand, he spoke out in an interview aired by FOX5 television on Friday as the jury considered six weeks of testimony. "But never illegal, never criminal, never anything." Weinstein pointed to comments from Mr Aidala, who suggested the three women who testified against him at trial "had four million reasons to testify, as in dollars." The jury is made of seven women and five men who began deliberating on Thursday. After two days they are yet to reach a verdict. One juror has been replaced with an alternate after they fell ill. Another juror asked to be removed because he felt his fellow jurors were treating a member of their panel in an "unfair and unjust" way, but the judge told him he had to keep deliberating. Judge Curtis Farber later denied a defence request for a mistrial, saying he believed the juror was simply expressing discomfort in the deliberation process, noting that he was the youngest on the 12-person panel. Deliberations will continue on Monday.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Painful story behind the new Harry Potter series
In any given week there are any number of images that are likely to elicit an Edvard Munch-y Scream but this week there was one photo, shot in a green and pleasant bit of England which could have doubled as a Wind In the Willows set, that should have set your hair on fire. In the image, three tweens crouch, broadly grinning for the camera, the trio having beaten out tens of thousands of other 9-11-year-olds to nab the lead roles in the New HBO remake of Harry Potter. Ohgodisthisagoodideareallyummmm…. Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton have been cast, respectively, as the Harry and his sidekicks Ron and Hermione, guaranteeing them fortunes, fame and never having to sit through year ten modern history should they not fancy. That day, they just might be in Cannes doing a quick red carpet or in Prague shooting Darron Aronofksy's newie. Ciao darling. I'm sure that for McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton it's a dream come true. They feel like golden ticket winners, the envy of kids the world over and are about to embark on an incredible adventure. But boring adult me looks at this publicity shot and wants to do some Munch-ing. Child stardom, historically, has a helluva chequered record. The announcement of McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton as the new faces of Harry Potter feels like the most double edged of swords going outside of a Roman military museum. On one hand, what child's dream would not be to get to skive off school to pretend to be a wizard all day while earning squillions? On the other hand, youthful fame is notorious for wreaking havoc and often coming with an extraordinarily high, lifelong cost. The most obvious casualties: Drew Barrymore, Cory Haim, Cory Feldman, Edward Furlong, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Tatum O'Neil, Macaulay Culkin, and Amanda Bynes. We could also probably add in Justin Bieber considering he seems to really be going through something right now. Hello, stints in rehab, reality TV, and even court, with the occasional caught-by-the-paps, head-shaving breakdown thrown in there too. For decades it has been clear that childhood stardom both arrests and speeds up the normal sort of emotional, psychological and social development that you are meant to go through as you leave childhood and awkwardly galumph into adulthood. We've known all of this since Ronald Reagan was eating all the red jelly beans out of his Oval Office jar and yet every generation there are new fresh-faced enthusiastic pre-teens who don't, who can't, quite realise what they are about to sacrifice. Look no further than the original Potter stars, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. They have all made clear that the actual acting on the eight original movies – the larking about on sets and the creative aspect of it all – was a real joy but that tremendous, global fame that came with it deeply affected them. Radcliffe, Watson and Grint might never have to worry about mortgage payments or how they can afford that ice cream truck they always wanted (Grint) but the life-altering reverberations of being cast in Potter are clear to this day. Radcliffe has, on a number of occasions, talked about how he started drinking heavily as a teenager to cope with it all. 'The quickest way to forget about the fact that you're being watched is to get very drunk,' he told Off Camera With Sam Jones in 2019. 'I was a recluse at 20. It was pathetic,' he told Shortlist in 2012. 'I'd stay in my apartment for days and drink alone.' During a Newsweek interview in 2022 he was clear: 'I wouldn't want fame for my kid.' Speaking to The Times in 2021, Grint said: 'I found it hard to deal with the fame side of things. If I ever do see Dan [Radcliffe] or Emma [Watson], fame is the one thing we never talk about.' Wade into the myriad of interviews Radcliffe, Watson and Grint have given over the years and the words they use to describe becoming global megastars so young are ones like 'scary', 'dehumanising', 'surreal and odd', 'weird' and 'vulnerable'. They have talked about feeling 'detached' from other teenagers. Grint said in 2018, when he would go back to his old school and see his peers, 'We had very little in common, which is quite isolating in a way.' Radcliffe, Watson and Grint won their roles in 2000 and yet here we are, 25 years later, and their careers and public identities are still indelibly shaped by a movie they started shooting a full year before 9/11 even happened. Smartphones didn't exist yet. Instagram had barely been invented when the final Potter movie came out. So, what will the future be like for McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton? They are about to embark on a project that will make them some of the most instantly recognisable teenagers in a world saturated by social media. How will they get through this unscathed? I'm sure their parents, HBO and every producer involved will do absolutely everything in their power to look after them; that they will all take every precaution and hire every child psychologist and adolescent specialist and on-set advocate to try and protect McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton as much as possible. But surely there is only so far a well-meaning studio and the most thoughtful and best of parents can go to shield them from real world consequences of their roles. Just think about what lies ahead. McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton will have to go through the profound, innate awkwardness of adolescence – the hormones, the physical and emotional changes – with People keeping a around-the-clock watch. Their faces will be on screens the world over. For a new generation, they will be Harry, Hermione and Ron. They will become immutable parts of the cultural furniture and nothing can ever change that. There will be no going back. They are making what could be a lifelong choice at 11. There will be at least one season per book, with the first out in 2026 meaning that, assuming there is one series per year, the final one could be screening in 2034. McLaughlin as the titular Harry will be 19-years-old by then. How will they be on the other side of this? I hope that what lies ahead for McLaughlin, Stout and Stanton is all the joy and fun and magic of bringing these characters to life. I hope against hope that they can somehow dodge having to walk the tough path that many other child stars have over the years. I hope. I so very dearly hope. And if all else fails, they can buy themselves an ice cream van I suppose.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Naomi Watts and ex-husband Liev Schreiber hang out with new spouses in tow
They're the perfect ex-couple. Naomi Watts and ex Liev Schreiber celebrated their son Sasha's high school graduation as a blended family. The graduate was seen posing with Schreiber and Watts — and their respective spouses, Taylor Neisen and Billy Crudup — in a photo posted to Schreiber's Instagram yesterday. 'The graduate!!!' the proud father captioned the sweet photo. Sasha, 17, officially completed his schooling at the Manhattan private school Friends Seminary, with the graduation ceremony being held at Central Park on Friday. Schreiber, 57, wore a charcoal sport coat and matching pants, a blue button-down, sunglasses and a camera around his neck. His wife, 32, looked stylish in a denim maxi dress and sunglasses. Watts, 56, went with a colourful floral sundress, a sunhat and sunglasses. She also matched her brown shoes to her leather satchel. Meanwhile, Crudup, 56, went with a blue suit, no tie and aviator shades. Sasha honoured his academic achievement in a Gray suit with a blue polka-dot tie, suede shoes and sunglasses. Watts also shared photos from the event, including a snap of her ex and their son with the caption 'Congrats.' She also re-shared Schreiber's photo to her Instagram story, writing, 'What an incredible day,' as well as a selfie with her son in which she raved, 'He did it! So so proud.' Watts then shared several images capturing Sasha walking in his graduation procession and receiving his diploma. She and Schreiber, who broke up in 2016 after 11 years together, also share 16-year-old daughter Kai. The budding trans model, who uses 'she/her' pronouns, was also spotted at the event wearing a white ruffled sundress and brown slouch boots in paparazzi photos obtained by Page Six. Watts married Crudup in June 2023 while Schreiber married Neisen a month later. Schreiber and the former pageant queen, 32, welcomed daughter Hazel Bee that August. Crudup, for his part, shares son William with ex-wife Mary-Louise Parker, to whom he was married from 1996 to 2003.
