From Draco Malfoy to ...Emotional Life Stories (Beyond the Wand)

I picked up Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton expecting fun Harry Potter behind the scenes stories and ended up getting something much more personal. This book was incredibly funny, nostalgic, and surprising heartfelt and emotional. 

I also talk about my brief interaction with Tom Felton vandalizing my book after seeing him in Broadway during his reprisal role in The Cursed Child!

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Transcript

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Hey everyone, it's Sadie here and welcome to Did We Read the Same Book? Today I am talking about Beyond the Wand, the magic and mayhem of growing up a wizard by the fabulous Tom Felton. Okay, so I actually had tickets to go see the Broadway, The Cursed Child in New York with Tom Felton reprising the role as Draco Malfoy. Oh my gosh, super, super exciting, you guys. I will talk more about that experience later because we are talking about the book. But I decided to do the book because it's been sitting on my TBR with a lot of other books for a while, probably like over a year. And then, you know, I'm like, oh my gosh, well, I'm actually gonna go see Tom Felton. So it would be incredibly rude for me to do that and not have read his book. I am so happy I did because his book is amazing. It's amazing. If it's on your TBR, like get it off right now, get it off your shelf, like download it on your Kindle, listen to the audio, whatever it is you do. I highly recommend that you read it like now. It's incredible. It is seriously my favorite book this year so far. I mean, it might stay my favorite book all year. I don't know. Okay, so um, besides it being my favorite book, like I've always been a Draco fan. Um, yeah, he's my favorite. I I have like a thing for villains for some reason, like Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco, like my absolute favorites. I love them so much. Um, but after reading Tom's book, I can say now, like I am definitely a Tom Felton fan. Yes, he he's so great, he's so great. Yeah, okay. These books, the Harry Potter World is like uh hold on. All right, so a little backstory though, because I feel like most people who are reading these are really big Harry Potter fans, anyways. Um not to age myself too much, but like I started reading Harry Potter when I was a little kid, I was in fourth grade, and I remember my teacher, Mrs. Strickland, she introduced these books to me and it changed my life. Like it really did. It gave it it was this is these are the books, these are the series. Oh my gosh. This series is what got me into reading and into like loving books and having that escape, you know, for me. So I was a part of the generation where I actually got to attend the midnight book releases for Harry Potter, those were super, super cool. By the way, if anybody in here was a part of that and you got to experience it, please comment below, let me know, give a shout out because that was such a cool part of my life, and I love to hear about other people's experiences, of course. So coming full circle, now we're all adults, we're grown-ups now, still Harry Potter fan. I do not care what people say about it being a children's book and that we need to get over it. Like, no, this was such a big part of my life, I will never get over it. I am raising my children to also love Harry Potter, but okay, so Draco Malfoy is an adult, he is Tom Felton. Tom Felton is Draco Malfoy, you know, interchangeable, I feel like. But I thought his book was really gonna be about like his childhood and how he grew up into like you know, the Harry Potter world and what that was like. I thought it was gonna be more back um like behind the scenes kind of stuff, you know, more and just like really nostalgia kind of book, nostalgic, sorry, and then it turned out to be so much more than that. For the people that read it, like um, yeah, let me know what you thought. It made me super emotional, and it was just so honest and so raw, so good. Okay, so let me stop raving about it. Let me just talk about it now. So, Tom, he wanted it like starts off, you know, he's talking about his childhood. He wanted to, you know, do a whole lot of stuff when he was a kid, and his mom being so gracious. He she entertained most of that and you know, tried to support his hobbies, and she did the best that she could. And eventually, you know, he was in theater, his theater director was like, Oh, he's so na he's got natural talent, he's so good at this, you know. Maybe you should get him an agent. So eventually, Tom's mom is like, huh, all right. Um, she she had to stay home from work, and so while she was home from work, she decided, like, let's make the drive, let's go see about this agent thing. And he ended up getting an agent, and the first thing that he did was like a big commercial in America, so fun. He talks about how they got to have like room service, and that was awesome, and he's a picky eater, so he just really wanted like a plate of chips, you know, french fries, and so cute, such a fun, like I don't know, backstory, just kind of how he got into it. He was able to land a role in The Borrowers, which I think he explains catapulted him into kind of like the limelight. Um, that's really where he got the feeling of like being an actor and being on a set and learning from some greats, you know, already. But his audition for Harry Potter, you guys, it made me, it made me giggle. It's so funny, just because so many people really wanted those roles, you know. They auditioned, they it was an open casting. I actually remember this. Um I begged my mom, and I I was never in theater, I was not an actor or anything like that. I begged my mom, please, please, please take me to these auditions, please take me to the open auditions for Harry Potter. These are the books that I've been raving about, and I love them so much. But, you know, an American kid, nowhere near the auditions. Uh, my mom said no, no way, that's ridiculous. I'm not taking you. So I, you know, who knows what could have been, guys. Who knows? I will never know. But for Tom, his agent called and was like, Hey, I think you should go to this audition. So he goes, he knows nothing about the Harry Potter books at all. And he originally was auditioning for like Harry and Ron. He says they like changed his hair and everything for the auditions, and he didn't get it. Um, he also vividly remembers an encounter he had with Emma Watson during the audition where she was asking what the like boom mic was or something, and he was being snite and kind of rude to her. Um, poor little Emma. I think she was nine at the time, and he felt like he was so much older and more experienced. Like he's been on sets, he knows what he's doing. Anyways, that was it was cute. It was a cute little like memory he shared with us. Um, yeah, so he, I just think it's so funny how he knew nothing about the book, but he ended up getting a call later asking him to come back, and he got the role for Draco, his iconic role that we are so thankful for. Um, so a few stand out, I think, moments in the book. After he gets the role of Draco, he talks about, you know, how he had to like perfect his sneer and his grandpa helped him with that. Like, you know, look in the mirror, really practice that look. So he got his signature sneer from lots and lots of practice in the mirror with his grandpa's assistance, which is super awesome. And then also, if you guys didn't read the book or if you don't remember, I thought it was so cool that his his grandpa has a little cameo in the Harry Potter movies. And I just think that's so cool. That is so cool. What great memories he has to look back on, especially when he re-watches those movies, you know. Okay, so fast forward, he does tell a story, and this is actually in the very beginning, it's the first chapter, which was super funny, and he talks about little Tom Felton between shooting the first and second Harry Potter films. He wanted to be super cool with his friends and everything, so they decide as a group, like, let's go in this like video store, and he's you know, they want to steal, yeah, I know super bad, super malfoy here, but he they wanted to steal a grown-up adult movie, and he wants to be cool, so he's like, I'll do it, I'll be the one, I'll take the video or the DVD and I'll sneak it out. But he is not slick and he is not coy about it, and he definitely gets caught by pacing up and down and drawing so much attention to himself because he's nervous, so he ends up putting the the DVD in his jacket and he like rushes out after lots of pacing, and then the guards come and they're like, Yeah, no, we saw that. And they end up taking a picture of him, and he is like begging them, please don't tell my mom. Anyways, I really want to know. I haven't looked into it. Yeah, I'm trying not to obsess over everything here, Tom Felton. But I do want to know if anybody out there has done some digging. Has anybody found that photo? Because he said he was banned for life, never to return. But that he they took a picture of him and put him on the banned, you know, wall. And he says to this day it could still be there. He has no idea. So if anybody actually knows, has done some digging, has maybe gone down there to check, let me know, please. I would love to know. Also, I'd love to see that picture, but it's super funny. And I like that story that he shared. So I don't know, he talks a lot about his brothers, which I thought was so, so sweet. And I think like what really got me is he kept saying in the book, like, oh, I had such a normal upbringing, had such a normal childhood, you know, I was really a normal kid and a teenager doing normal things, even though I had this iconic role. And he, you know, he ex he talks about how he was able to go out in public, and people didn't really start recognizing him until years after the films, and you know, he didn't really get like celebrity status like that, not like um Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe and everything. So he just like talks about how normal his life was outside of filming, and I am so baffled by that because I'm like, oh my gosh, like nothing about your life sounds normal. Not to me, at least. It all sounds not fabulous, I wouldn't say that, because he has had a lot of you know struggles and everything, and he was bullied, which makes me so freaking sad. And I really like there's a chapter where he talks about him being bullied by a group and he's going to like you know a normal school, public school, but that he was kind of like an outcast because he would miss a lot of classes when he was filming on set, and then he would just you know come back to school. So people bullied him a lot and they called him names and they made fun of him and his hair and everything like that. And at one point, a group like kind of corners him, and then they start putting out cigarettes on his face, like no, sir. I was super super sad for like teenage Tom. I don't know him, obviously. I I understand he's a celebrity and all of that, but my gosh, if I can go back and kick some asses for him, I totally would because that is beyond rude, and it breaks my heart that anybody has to go through anything like that. And especially, you know, I mean, he's a kid, I get it, kids are mean, but yeah, that's super sad. I just can't get over it. He just is like, oh, it was so normal. Everything was so normal. I got to do such, you know, normal kid things. But to me, I was like, oh no, dude, you got to be on such a cool set with like an awesome cast, you know. I mean, come on, the people he was surrounded by, so freaking so cool. Um, and he does he does talk about that too, you know. He's like saying as a kid he didn't really like he knew they were they were big actors and actresses, but he didn't really like I don't know, he wasn't as impressed or as intimidated as I think a lot of other people would be because he was a kid, um, which is great, that's cool for him, but I would not say it was a normal upbringing. I know you want it to be Tom, but it's just not okay. Moving on, what other iconic like things did he share? His chapter about Emma Watson. Now I know that this one was trending for a while, like what he talked about, because people love Emma Watson and they really want him and Tom, or really want her and Tom um to like you know be together. And I thought what he talked about was so so so sweet. Oh my goodness. So he explains that, you know, he knew like she had a crush on him, but he always felt like it was more like a brother-sister kind of bond and friendship because she was so much younger than him and he was so old. And you know, it's like when you're a kid, it just seems like the age gap is so big, but you know, now of course, you know, as adults, it's not, but things just never really properly aligned for them, and I think that's so sweet that he and like says that and admits it and can talk so openly because I know Emma in a lot of her interviews has been so open about her crush on him, and so it's just it's just so cute that he's also like, you know, yeah, I acknowledge it. I acknowledge it. I love her dearly. She's always been like a sister, she's one of my closest friends, and then you know, at some point I've had feelings too, but it just has never aligned for us, it's not worked out, and that's okay. So, so sweet, and I really love that, and it makes me like both of them. I mean, even not together, just as separate people. All right, so this book was such a roller coaster for me. I literally I was so happy and smiley during all of the like little Harry Potter encounters he was sharing, all the tidbits, the behind the scenes, when he was talking about all the other actors and actresses that he's worked with and met and their relationships, when he was talking about Alan Rickman, oh my goodness, my heart, and how he was actually like very intimidated by him, and he did not have like a super close, friendly relationship because he was kind of scared of him. Like, that's that's brilliant, that's awesome. I don't know. I I figured I've heard a lot of other cast members talk about Alan Rickman and how awesome he is and funny and nice. So for Tom to be afraid of him a little is kind of funny. But yeah, he talks about, you know, like during the the scene where the Death Eaters and you know Bellatrix and Alan Rickman, well, sorry, Snape, they're all marching out of Hogwarts. Alan Rickman was like, do not step on my cloak. And then of course Tom steps on his cloak. And so he was saying how nervous he was. He was like, Don't step on the cloak, don't step on the cloak, and he does it. So that was a fun story, too. He does talk about some of the darker stuff on set, like the one of the stunt men getting seriously injured, and I remember when this happened, it was all over the news, and I read about it, and that's super scary and super sad. But Tom talks about it and says that to this day he still is in touch with him and his friends, but that his life definitely changed. Um, which, you know, obviously, yes. And my goodness, yeah, that was kind of scary to hear, and it made me really sad for everybody, and of course the stunman that was involved. He acknowledges a lot of the people in the cast that have passed um due to like old age and everything. I thought that was really, really nice of him to do and very sweet. One thing that stuck out to me because I really resonated with this, he talks about wrapping up the film and his last day on set, and he said, you know, like a lot of people um, you know, like gave like hugged and it was really emotional for them, and they stayed and they said goodbye to everybody. And for him, he was more like, you know, yep, okay, cool, we're done. And then he like left, you know, he left set and he got into his car and he just started bawling. He started crying when he got in the car because he's not good with things ending and saying goodbye to you know, and chapters of his life like coming to an end. So he said he cried, and I was like, I felt that, I felt that because let me tell you, when the books ended and I finished Deathly Hollows, and it was done. I bawled, I was crying at my kitchen counter. My mom was like, was it sad? What happened? Are you okay? Was it really sad? And I was like, No, mom, it's not sad, it was over. Like the books are done, there's no more after this. It is it's over, and I felt that so deeply. Um, and then again when the movies ended, I felt it again like, oh, there's no more movies. This is the end of the magic. So as a fan, I definitely mourned the series coming to an end. Um, I can't imagine being a part of it, being a part of the cast and the crew and everything, and you know, and then an ending, especially after such a long run, 10 years of their lives growing up in that movie. Um, it was touching to hear. Um very, very sad. And yeah, and I can relate, but probably not on the same level. Okay. This is kind of like where I I really felt I wasn't expecting his book to be so emotional and so impactful the way it was. I really thought it. was gonna be like a fun light read but he he talks about himself and his personal um I guess experiences after after the movies ended and just you know how hard it was to I guess navigate going back into like regular life and he didn't have his routine anymore he didn't have people telling him where he needed to be what he needed to do and so he struggled immensely with that he talks about his girlfriend at that time Jade and how she was really like a rock for him and she helped him you know like um stay motivated and stay in the industry and they moved to California and he's you know trying out for a bunch of stuff he he gets handed a role in a movie he didn't even have to try out for and he's just talking about how how awesome that is and it kind of got to his head but he does spiral a little bit and depression runs in his family and so he talks about how he went through that you know he went through depression and he talks about his mental health and how just I don't know it was just really it was kind of a hard read for me to be honest not that I have gone through anything close to what he's gone through because you know I don't live in that world but I feel like everybody you know goes through something in their life at some point. So hearing him talk about it and how he felt and the people around him being concerned uh it really like pulled on my heartstrings and it made me just kind of think about you know how he like these celebrities these people that we idolize and look up to and stuff like they're real people with real problems and stuff you know even if to us it seems like they have like everything like mental health is a real thing and life happens and things happen and not everybody can control everything in their life or you know have direction or meaning even so him talking about that and his struggles and what he went through and then ultimately the intervention he had you know from the people around him that loved him and he couldn't see that you know he had a problem he was like what are you guys talking about I am fine I'm not doing drugs like yeah I smoke cigarettes yeah I drink a little bit here and there but like I am functioning and I'm fine um so um he still had humor you know throughout the whole book he is very funny and very witty I enjoyed that but yeah he does talk about kind of like um a dark experience in his life he went through rehab he was forced to go kind of you know like they made him go his lawyer was there uh like a psych was there a counselor and then his friends and family and they were all pushing him to go get help for drinking so he goes and then he makes like this grand escape it's really not he just said he walks right out of there and the whole time he's thinking somebody's gonna stop me who there's no way I'm just gonna walk out of here okay I'm walking out of here okay someone's gonna look for me and then eventually he makes it to like the beach and he he like loses it he's you know crying and he's screaming he's in the beach he's by himself it's dark he escaped and there's a whole lot of stuff happening and that's when he kind of realizes like I'm not okay you know I'm not okay and he walks and he's trying to make it back to his favorite bar and he meets a few people along the way somebody a man asks him you know like are you a rich man? And he says you know at the time he wasn't really understanding what he was saying um but like later you know he understood like he's asking not if I have money but like am I rich in life? Do I have things in my life that you know I care about that are important? Do I have people that love me? Am I rich? You know do I feel happy and at ease kind of so I yeah I mean I love I really love that and it's kind of awesome how you know he was feeling like you know a part like a regular person in that moment not like a celebrity the people that he met along the way didn't even know who he was probably because he was sopping wet walking around looking a little deranged you know so yeah and um it it impacted him and it's just it was very nice and refreshing um to hear such an honest and raw experience and emotions so I mean I know he probably will never hear this podcast but if in off chance he ever does like thank you so much for sharing that with everybody it it really was special to hear that okay so after I don't know I just I actually did cry I cried during I think I cried the most when he was talking about him you know like being at the beach and like screaming and crying and kind of realizing that he wasn't happy and then he eventually like calls his girlfriend they talk and he realizes that she's been carrying him you know a lot and she's been she's been really like doing everything for him and at this point in his life he wasn't really doing anything for himself or thinking from for himself and he was just kind of like letting her direct everything which isn't bad. He wasn't saying it in like a bad way either like you know oh yeah she was controlling he was saying it more as just like a it came as a realization that he was letting her you know he was he was comfortable to let somebody else take the reins and to kind of give him direction because he didn't have any and he didn't know what he was like what to do like he felt lost so yeah he talks about the breakup and he broke up with her he admitted himself into a different facility that was a lot better and a lot nicer that you know for him and more welcoming and he began began the healing process which he does say um you know he's he welcomes it and he knows that you know there's some days he doesn't wake up feeling happy and he does feel that way and feels depressed and then he knows now to just ask for help and to get help and I thought that was like really special to hear. Yeah I don't know guys please like let me know if anybody else felt really emotional during this because I did I thought his book was it had me all over the place I was really like I was laughing because it was funny and telling such funny stories. I was super mad about him being bullied like super upset about that um yeah I felt like really really happy that he has like a loving family and that they like tease him even though he was in these movies they still were like okay you know still a runt or you're still a maggot but I I just love that I love that for him I love hearing about it and I am especially grateful that he was able to open up and share about his darkest times and be so vulnerable you know that was awesome of him oh my gosh you know what I forgot guys okay backtrack he talks about his dad a lot you know so he talks about his dad and I have I had the feeling throughout this book that he was trying to just kind of like excuse his dad's behavior a lot and you know like he wasn't talking smack about him not really but I kind of got the sense that there's a lot of resentment there and maybe that's just me reading into it too much but or like listening you know but I really felt like he would say stuff like you know oh yeah um when my dad went to the premiere for my for the fourth movie you know after the movie was over and the credits started rolling he said something like oh well you weren't really in that movie much were you and I was like oh you could have seen my face my jaw like hit the ground I'm like he did not that is so mean I cannot imagine my mom or my dad saying something like that after you know me working so hard and being so proud of something that I did and then they're like well you know yeah it wasn't that great now was it you didn't really we didn't really see much of you that would that would break my heart and Tom does say like it did hurt his feelings and which rightfully so but he excuses it and is kind of like yeah but you know that's just my dad and he it turns out that he's been really proud of me and he talks about me all the time to his friends and the people he works with and he just had a really hard time expressing his feelings and so you know grown up Tom gives him grace and is trying to understand that which good for you that is fantastic. I am happy you can do that but my gosh I am so sad I am so sad for like him as a child and a teenager um you know having to go through that I'm sure that was really really upsetting for him and very sad and it probably affects him still even though he's trying to be cool about it. So I don't know you you guys let me know let me know what your thoughts are about his whole you know the father son dynamic there going on and if you think that it's just if it's excusable or if you also feel kind of like uh no that's mean but maybe it's just me it's not my family and I hope he I hope he's happy I hope Tom has a happy life I hope he has a fulfilled life I hope he is a rich man you know um oh okay last thing before I get off guys because I have been talking a lot for this book I am I'm rambling I am so sorry about that but I did meet him I I know I mentioned that in the beginning that I read this book because I was going to the show I am so freaking excited I am so excited I met him I was worried because I've seen so many like horror TikToks of him just running out at stage door and like skipping a whole bunch of people and being in like a bad mood because other people are being rude right and I I get that I'm like yeah he deserves respect he is a person uh he is not a zoo animal so yeah he he is shown in a lot of videos of like skipping people who are yelling at him or you know screaming or pushing other people and like for sure I a hundred percent get that but I was worried because I'm like I really want to meet him I brought my book with me I wanted him to sign it I you know I missed some of the well actually I saw the most of the play I saw all of the play I missed like the curtain calls but my sister was able to record it so like I did see it as I was like rushing out. I'm like hurry we have to get to the we have to get to the barriers so I got to the barriers on time. We waited about an hour it was super super cold but it was worth it I was wearing heels that night my feet did not feel a thing though because it was so cold. So here he comes he runs out and he was actually in such a cheery happy mood that day and he runs you know past everybody at the door and he starts at the very end first and then he makes his way back up to the door so that way he can like leave right away when he's done interacting with people. So he was so freaking sweet and he interacted with the whole group around me. I made friends with all of them while we were there and we all were like be on our P's and Q's everybody be polite everybody be kind and nice nobody push you know pass up whatever you want to get signed pass it up and we will all try to help each other out. So that I feel like is how we were also we were all able to get interactions with him and it was so cool. It was so wonderful. Oh my goodness he's so freaking nice and sweet and lovely um he chit chatted with the the people around me and then when it was my turn he signed my book he signed the inside of my book and then he flipped it to the front page and he doodled on the front of my book you guys and if I I'm gonna admit this now um I had a moment of like disbelief and horror because he turned the book over and he drew Harry Potter glasses and a Harry Potter scar on his own face on his book and my heart stopped not because of I because of excitement and joy because I was like oh my god my book he's he's ruining the the front cover so my instant reaction was no not the book but it was literally like a split second once I realized like oh my gosh this is Tom Felton he is signing his book and he is allowed to doodle on it like do what you want man this is this is yours I am gonna cherish it so I have a doodle it's very cute I actually really do love it and it is sitting like front and center on my bookshelf I love it so much it is hilarious. Um I did post a picture of it is on my Instagram and is on my TikTok so if anybody wants to go see that please show go check it out. It's very funny uh anyways yes so I got the signature I got the doodle and I got a side hug and a kiss on the cheek I felt super special I was worried he would skip us but I got like all of the above oop and I got a group picture the girl that was on my left it was her birthday and you know she had her camera out and I was like girl you get the picture everybody else will get signatures for you but you like have your phone ready okay let's do a groupie like a group picture and then after that we all shared and it worked out so well it was so cool. So if you listen to this and the play is still going on and Tom Felton is still in it this is your sign to go get your tickets go stand and wait for him at the stage door make friends be super super friendly and polite and respectful and then you might get a chance to meet him get a signature get a doodle get a kiss get all of the above um yes okay I'm gonna end it here I have been talking so much guys thank you so much for listening to my messy thoughts this one has been extra messy I'm sure and I will see you guys next week let me know if we read the same book