'Harry Potter' star Tom Felton reveals he had a crush on co-star Emma Watson, admits there were sparks
EPSOM, ENGLAND: On screen, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were sworn enemies. Off-screen, however, things are as straight as a bit of venomous tentacula. his new memoir, Tom Felton admitted to having a crush on his 'Harry Potter' co-star Emma Watson.
The 35-year-old actor acknowledged that there was "a spark" between him and the 32-year-old actress in his new memoir, 'Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard', as per The Evening Standard.
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Felton opens up about his life and also working on the 'Harry Potter' movies. In his memoir, Felton also discusses a variety of topics, such as the difficulties of growing up in the limelight and his battle with mental illness among others.
Watson, his co-star and once rumoured love interest, is the subject of one revelation from Felton's book that is quickly gaining popularity. "I loved and admired her as a person in a way I could never explain to anybody else," he wrote.
They co-starred in eight films throughout the series from 2001 to 2011. Felton said in his new book that their relationship started out hard when they first met as child performers.
He remembered meeting Watson for the first time at an audition when he was 11 and she was 9. Felton claimed that Watson questioned him about a boom microphone and he replied, "It implies they are recording us, certainly," pointing to the object. "My relationship with Emma did not start well," Felton wrote. "She’d have been forgiven for not wanting much to do with me. It got worse."
He continued by saying that his group was "predictably dismissive." Felton said that once Watson had decided to do a dance for them during lunch. The group of them laughed their way down to see her act and laughed even louder when she danced. "We were just being s****y boys, largely out of awkwardness and because we thought taking the p**s was cool. I did feel like a bit of a d**k, and rightly so. In the end, it was up to one of the hair and makeup ladies to tell me what was what."
Felton and Watson subsequently grew close, and for years, there have been speculations of a possible relationship between the two. His memoir emphasizes that the idea wasn't wholly unfounded. "I’ve always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear," Felton said. "That isn’t to say that there’s never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times."
Felton said that when Watson was 12 and he was 15, he discovered that she developed a crush on him for the first time. "Rumours started to abound that there was more to our relationship than we were letting on. I denied that I liked her in that way, but the truth was different," Felton said.
He continued, "My girlfriend at the time knew straight away that there was something unspoken between us. I remember using the familiar old line, ‘I love her like a sister.’ But there was more to it than that."
Upon reflection, Felton believes he wasn't "ever in love with Emma". "But I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else … we were kindred spirits. I know for certain I’ll always have Emma’s back and she’ll always have mine too," he said.