Harry Potter star Tom Felton has spoken of his ‘secret love’ for Emma Watson, saying what started as an on-set friendship deepened into something more significant.
In his new memoir Felton, 35, who played antagonist Draco Malfoy, says he came to understand that the actress was a ‘kindred spirit’ and says they have formed a lifelong bond after meeting on set.
He adds: ‘I loved and admired her as a person in a way I could never explain to anybody else.’
Fans of the films have long speculated on a spark between them, and Felton has spent years denying it. But in a candid passage of Beyond The Wand he admits: ‘My girlfriend at the time knew that there was something unspoken between the two of us.’
In 2019, Miss Watson, 32, visited him at his home in Venice Beach, California, and he posted photos of her learning how to play the guitar in pyjamas on Instagram which caused a social media sensation. In the book he says that they first met when she was nine and he was 11 at an audition.
She pointed at a boom mic in the room and asked, ‘What’s that?’ and he told her: ‘It means they are recording us, obviously.’ He added: ‘My relationship with Emma did not start well. She’d have been forgiven for not wanting much to do with me. It got worse.’
Felton was in a clique with the other Slytherin actors and they would spend their time listening to rap music and going out for cigarette breaks.
Emma Watson and Tom Felton attend the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban film premiere in 2004
This image of Emma Watson learning to play guitar while staying with Tom Felton caused a sensation for their fans
A message was passed on that Miss Watson, who played Hermione Granger, had put together ‘a little dance show in her dressing room that she wanted to present it to us at lunchtime… we were predictably dismissive’.
He added: ‘We sniggered our way down to Emma’s show and the sniggers grew louder as she danced. We were just being s***** boys, largely out of awkwardness and because we thought taking the p*** 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 make-up ladies to tell me what was what.’
But he writes: ‘I’ve always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear. That isn’t to say that there’s never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times.’
He was first told that Miss Watson had a crush on him when she was 12 and he was 15 and had a girlfriend. He didn’t really believe it when he was told.
He adds: ‘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.
‘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.
‘I don’t think I was 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.’
Previously, Miss Watson has spoken about her crush on Felton. She said: ‘He was my first crush. He totally knows. We talked about it – we still laugh about it.’
She is currently dating British businessman Sir Philip Green’s son Brandon.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
