Tom Felton talks about his alcoholism and drug addiction in his new autobiographical book

Tom Felton, the priceless Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” saga, publishes his first book, “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard”. He’s a autobiography in which Felton describes with humor and honesty what it was like to grow up “being a magician” while having to reconcile his normal life outside of fictionfrom its tender beginnings to subsequent difficulties.

Felton candidly enters his twenties, where he spent a lot of time in Los Angeles bars, where he began drinking as a means of escape. “The alcohol wasn’t the problem. It was the symptom”writes, while describing how “drinking becomes a habit in the best moments”and as the habit was not limited to the bars, it was also on the set. “There came a point where nothing was considered when it came to having a drink while working. I showed up unprepared, I was not the professional I wanted to be”admits the actor.

His life took a turn when the people around him did what is called an “intervention”, which brings together people close to him (in this case his agents, manager, lawyer and his then girlfriend, Jade Olivia) to try to get him to go to rehab. “Everyone in the room had written me a letterFelton remembers. “I listened to Jade and the others as they told me how concerned they were about my behavior, my drinking and substance abuse.”. However, he acknowledges it “I was unable to hear them”.

Surprisingly, the letter that impacted him most came from the person he knew least: your lawyer, I speak with total honesty. He told him: “Tom, I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a good guy. The only thing I want to tell you is that this is the seventeenth surgery I have seen in my career. Eleven of them have already died. Don’t be the twelfth “. It was these words that impressed Felton.

From there, the road to sobriety was not an easy one. He checked into a rehab clinic in Malibu, where he was asked if, due to his worldwide fame for the role of Malfoy in “Harry Potter”, he would prefer to use a pseudonym on his nameplate. But the actor knew that he would be of little use: “If people recognize me from the Harry Potter films it will be for my face”adding that even if they wrote “Fucking Mickey” in his chest everyone would know who he is. Felton managed to escape from the clinic the first day he was hospitalized, and by another he was expelled because he was found in another patient’s room.

breaking taboos

Tom Felton admits he is no longer afraid to ask for help. “I’m no longer ashamed to raise my hands and say: I’m not well”. He also defends the need to talk about it. “To this day, I never know which version of myself I will wake up to. Which brings us back to the concept of rehabilitation and the stigma attached to the word”He says. Emphasize that going to therapy is a very difficult first step to take and he wants to “help normalize it with my grain of sand”. He concludes by stating that “We all need it in one way or another, so why wouldn’t it be normal to talk openly about how we feel?”. It’s no secret that show business has big ups and downs, but the huge taboo about it continues to require testimonies as important as Felton’s to break it.