Many beloved scenes from the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise have gone on to become timeless memes on the internet. But nothing can surpass the awkward and unsettling scene where Lord Voldemort wraps Draco Malfoy in a stiff and uncomfortable embrace.
Years later, Tom Felton revealed that he was just as surprised by the hug as the audience was. What ended up on screen was actually an unscripted ad-lib that somehow became unforgettable.
Ralph Fiennes Surprised Tom Felton With A Completely Unscripted Hug
In his memoir ‘Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard’, Tom Felton reflected on his time spent on the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise as the iconic Draco Malfoy. But one behind-the-scenes anecdote from ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’ stands out the most.
Related: How Tom Riddle Became Voldemort: 20 Secrets From Harry Potter Villain’s Early Years
In the Battle of Hogwarts sequence, we see Draco abandoning his classmates to rejoin his parents, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, on Voldemort’s side. Felton wrote, “I must have done that walk 30 or 40 times”.
The scene played out the same way every time, where Draco would cautiously approach Voldemort while still maintaining a distance. But it still just didn’t feel right until something unexpected happened in one particular scene. “In the middle of one take, as I was pacing towards him for the umpteenth time, he lifted his arm just a fraction,” Felton recalled. “It was the slightest movement, but enough to stop me in my tracks and think: is he trying to hug me?”
Unsure of how to respond, Felton moved closer, and Ralph Fiennes then pulled him into a hug. Felton later described it as “perhaps the most uninviting hug ever captured on film.”
The Improvised Moment Made It Into The Final Cut
What surprised Felton even more was that this unscripted moment actually made it to the final cut and he had no idea the filmmakers would even consider using it. He realized it only when he attended the London premiere of the franchise’s last film. “That was one take out of 50,” he wrote. “I had no idea they were going to use it until I saw the film for the first time at the premiere in London.”
In Case You Missed It: ‘Harry Potter’: What Happened To Lucius And Narcissa Malfoy After Voldemort’s Fall?
And just like us, even Tom Felton was genuinely disturbed, both while filming and watching that final scene. “A hug from Voldemort was scary for Draco, and it was equally awkward for Tom,” he wrote. “It gave me goosebumps then, and the memory gives me goosebumps now.”
There was something bizarre about someone like Voldemort showing affection towards Draco, and Felton felt it too. “There was something so very twisted about that moment, something so wrong about watching Voldemort’s warped display of affection, that I could sense everybody around me holding their breath uncomfortably.”
Well, maybe that pushed Draco to do course-correction later in life, and rebuild a stable family with his wife Astoria Greengrass post the Dark Lord’s death.
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