Tom Felton is returning to Draco Malfoy on Broadway, and he is not treating the JK Rowling debate as a factor in the move. At the 2025 Tony awards in New York, he said the controversy around Rowling does not affect him and that he will begin performances in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child this fall.
“No, I can’t say it does. I’m not really that attuned to it,” Felton said when asked whether the Twitterverse debate changed his view of the work. He added: “The only thing I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world – here I am in New York – and I’ve not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. And she’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
June 2025 set the return
June 2025 already put Felton back inside the Broadway pipeline, when his return as Draco in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was set in motion. He said the part feels surreal, called the move a full-circle moment, and said he would be the exact age Draco is in the play when he starts. That kind of timing is unusual in franchise casting because it ties the actor’s real age directly to the role’s stage version.
Felton’s connection to Harry Potter has also stayed more active than that of Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson. He made TikToks about the franchise throughout 2020, 2021 and 2022, published Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard in 2022, and did a sponsored video for Harry Potter: Magic Awakened in 2023.
Rowling and the franchise split
In 2022, Felton told The Times that “No one has single-handedly done more for bringing joy to so many different generations.” That line now sits alongside a different reality: many original Harry Potter actors distanced themselves from JK Rowling after her controversial views on transpeople were shared in 2020, while Felton has stayed publicly tied to the franchise.
He also said he was “thrilled to be able to see his story through and to share it with the greatest fan community in the world,” which is the business logic behind this return. The production gets a recognizable film-era name attached to Broadway, and Felton gets a stage role that keeps him inside the Wizarding World instead of outside it.
Felton and Rupert Grint
In August 2026, Rupert Grint said he would reprise Ron Weasley in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Felton later posted, “Love you too Weasley x @rupertgrint @cursedchildus.” That keeps the franchise’s stage life expanding even as the offstage Rowling debate continues to split the original cast. Felton’s choice is simple: he is stepping back into Draco now, and he is doing it in public.
