The Harry Potter franchise has been a mainstay of pop culture since the seven part novels first hit shelves in the late 1990s. Since then the property has expanded to two blockbuster movie franchises, a pair of stage plays, and theme parks. The Harry Potter movies were massively popular, and launched the careers of a group of young actors. Tom Felton played the villainous Draco Malfoy in all eight installments, but fans recently were upset to learn just how little time the Slytherin antagonist had.
Draco Malfoy is a major character in Harry Potter lore, as his rivalry with Harry begins on their very first day at Hogwarts and continues through the Second Wizarding War. And while Tom Felton played him perfectly, it turns out that Draco only appears in in about a half hour of screen time throughout the entirety of the magical franchise. This news was a shocker, and the reaction were A+
Something about that math just seems off, no? Tom Felton's Draco certainly felt like a significant presence throughout the eight Harry Potter movies, but it turns out that we didn't actually see him on screen all that much. Draco greatly affected the story's plot, but since he wasn't in cahoot with the trio of young heroes his screen time suffered.
The Harry Potter films had the tricky task of adapting the lengthy novels into the appropriate movie length in time. Plenty of concepts and beloved scenes were cut along the way, and Draco's time on screen ended up a victim of the process. Still 31 minutes is shocking, and there are plenty of Harry Potter fans who made their confusion known on Twitter. What's more, some of them were proactively advocating for the health of Tom Felton's hair, saying:
Tom Felton also had to dye his hair for 10 years, to only end up with 30 minutes of screen time. He and Draco deserved better.
Touche. Tom Felton doesn't have Draco Malfoy's signature blonde locks IRL, so he required a ton of hair treatments throughout his years working on the Harry Potter franchise. While his onscreen father Jason Isaacs got to rock a wig, Felton no doubt spent a ton of time in the salon chair. More than he actually appeared throughout the series of beloved blockbusters.
Of course, Draco Malfoy wasn't the only character who had a surprisingly short amount of screen time. In fact, he ranked higher than beloved Harry Potter characters like Ginny, Professor McGonagall, and Neville Longbottom. Fans of the Wizarding World were similarly shocked by their total time on the screen, posting responses like,
Those screen times are so incredibly disrespectful to each of the characters especially Ginny like damn.
Ginny was endgame as far as Harry Potter's romantic life was concerned, with the two eventually marrying and having children. But that doesn't mean that actress Bonnie Wright got a ton of screen time throughout the Harry Potter movies. But she did rank above Neville, has a more important role in the final battle against Voldemort. One fan took umbrage with this, saying:
Neville got far less than he deserved. Especially since he ended up kinda hot.
Actor Matthew Lewis played Neville in the Harry Potter franchise, and is known for having blossomed into a sex symbol after his tenure in the Wizard World. This is one particular plot twist that happened off camera, but still went viral regardless. As if there wasn't already enough reason to love Neville Longbottom.
While there were plenty of Harry Potter fans who were shocked to see so many beloved characters with limited time on screen, there was a massive cast of characters to include throughout the eight movies. Plus, the trio of leading actors were the main focus of the story, as audiences watched their years in Hogwarts. One fan pointed this out when responding to news about Tom Felton and company, saying:
Well the series is Called Harry Potter - makes sense to me. But the time he had made a fantastic impression. Especially at the end. Well done Tom Felton.
Touche. Tom Felton's performance was Draco Malfoy was a strong one, regardless of exactly how many minutes he clocked in for. And like the above comments indicate, Felton got a chance to truly shine in the last few installments of the Harry Potter franchise. Draco was forced into horrible acts by Voldemort himself, with the Dark Lord eventually torturing the entire family.
Draco's story continued in the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays, which largely focus on his son and Harry's son during growing up as best friends. Some fans are hoping that Tom Felton and company might reprise their roles for a film adaptation of the plays, but there's no indication for if/when that's ever going to happen. We'll just have to hope that it happens, and that Felton gets a wig the second time around.
CinemaBlend will continue to update you on all things Harry Potter as details become public. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next movie experience.
