One of the most iconic scenes in the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise comes in ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’, when Hermione Granger finally loses her patience and punches Draco Malfoy in the face.
The scene has become a fan favorite over the years. But according to Tom Felton, it resulted in Emma Watson actually slapping him on the set. The behind-the-scenes story is just as legendary as the moment that made it to the screen.
Emma Watson’s Slap Left Tom Felton Speechless During ‘Harry Potter’ Rehearsals
During the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood, Tom Felton looked back on filming the famous scene with Seventeen. He revealed that the punching scene shown in ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban‘ wasn’t even in the script in the first place.
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Originally, the script mentioned a slap. So, Tom Felton encouraged Emma Watson to rehearse the moment with him beforehand. But Watson wasn’t thinking about a movie slap.
“I remember in the second film when I knew this was going to happen, I went up to her and told her to slap me,” Felton recalled. “Of course, she just walked up and slapped me across the face really hard.”
Her unexpected commitment caught him completely off-guard. “Yeah, my male ego didn’t quite know what to do with it. But I’ll never forget it,” he joked. To be fair, Felton did ask for the rehearsal himself.
How A Scripted Slap Turned Into An Iconic Punch
While the original script called for Hermione to slap Draco, somewhere during production, that moment evolved into the punch we know and love today.
Felton still has no idea exactly when that change happened. “I’m not sure,” he said when asked how the slap became a punch. “Somewhere between that and the third film, it got a little bit more violent.”
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Fortunately, Watson never actually connected her fist with Felton’s face during the filming of that scene. “Luckily she didn’t actually clock me with her fist,” he added. “She’s got a bit of a mean right hook, Emma Watson.”
At this point, Felton had learned from his experience and didn’t want to take any chances. Though he didn’t get punched in the face for real, it still remains one of the most satisfying scenes in the entire franchise for finally putting Draco in his place.
Why The Movie Had To Choose Emma Watson’s Punch Instead Of The Stunt Double
Interestingly, Watson wasn’t the only person punching Tom Felton. Actress Flick Miles, who appeared in the franchise as Emma Watson’s stunt double, also shot the famous sequence.
Speaking to the Scottish Daily Express, Miles explained that both of them filmed moments in the film that the editor later merged to use in the final cut. But when it came to the punching scene, she couldn’t muster up the courage to do it properly. This led to the editors using Emma Watson’s punch instead.
“It was probably cut because my punch was really rubbish and so not convincing, so they just kept in Emma’s,” Miles joked. “I am a really non-athletic person. I have never thrown a punch before in my life.”
Fortunately, Tom Felton was a great sport when it came to getting punched so many times. And thanks to his behind-the-scenes stories, we now know how iconic the scene actually is.
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