Harry Potter star faces pile-on for backing Rowling

Telegraph

2 days ago

Tom Felton, the Harry Potter actor, said he was 'grateful' to JK Rowling despite other stars from the film series shunning the author for her gender-critical views.
Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, addressed the ongoing controversy around Rowling's stance on transgender issues.
Speaking to Variety at the Tony Awards about his part in the franchise, the actor, 37, said: 'The only thing I always remind myself is that I've been lucky enough to travel the world… and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than 'Potter'.
'And she's responsible for that, so I'm incredibly grateful.'
His comments are markedly different from the other leading Harry Potter stars, who have all publicly criticised the author, and are likely to provoke criticism online.
Rowling, who once said she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns, first publicly voiced her opinion on the issue five years ago, when she mocked a brand that used the term 'people who menstruate' instead of 'woman' in an article.
The author, 59, was branded 'transphobic' by activists and criticised by the film franchise's stars, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
Felton, who will make his Broadway debut in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, said that he was not particularly 'attuned' to the trans row, but that it does not impact his work in the popular franchise.
Speaking about the reprisal of his role as Malfoy in the stage show, he said: 'I think we all thought that the fandom flame might be doused over the years, but clearly it's not.
'The most exciting part is to do it live. It took nine months, more or less, to shoot a film, and this is all compact. This is all reimagined into a very loving, new type of story. And I get to be a dad, which is really fun.'
His run on the Broadway show begins in November and marks the first time an original Harry Potter cast member has joined the stage production of Cursed Child.
Elsewhere, the former cast members have distanced themselves from the author with whom they once had a close relationship.
Rowling has previously said she would not forgive the Harry Potter actors for criticising her trans rights views, telling them last year to 'save their apologies' for 'traumatised detransitioners'.
'Eroding women's hard-won rights'
She wrote on X: 'Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single-sex spaces.'
Earlier this year, she appeared to renew the public disagreement with the trio of stars on social media by suggesting that Radcliffe, Watson and Grint had 'ruined' the movie franchise.
Responding to a post on X in March that said 'What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?', the author wrote: 'Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.'
Rowling has found herself increasingly at odds with other actors who made their names in the franchise since the Supreme Court's landmark ruling that trans women are legally not women.
After the ruling, stars of HBO's Harry Potter reboot series – including Paapa Essiedu, Eddie Redmayne and Katie Leung – signed a pro-trans open letter 'in solidarity' with members of the LGBT community.
The author accused them of being 'motivated by fear', adding: 'Gender ideology could give medieval Catholicism a run for its money when it comes to punishing heretics, so isn't it common sense to keep your head down and recite your Hail Mulvaneys?'
Last year, Warner Bros, which owns HBO, defended Rowling's 'right to express her personal views' amid the ongoing row, saying that the new series 'will only benefit from her involvement'.