Content note: this article contains references to addiction and substance abuse that readers may find upsetting.

There are many memorable villains in the the pop culture canon, but Tom Felton’s platinum blonde-haired teen Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise will forever be known as one of the meanest of them all. 

Despite the notoriety of his character, the Harry Potter alumnus has become one of the most beloved actors in the franchise. Beyond his huge stardom, though, the actor has struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues, which he’s now opening up to fans about in a candid new memoir.

In his new book Beyond The Wand: The Magic And Mayhem Of Growing Up A Wizard, Felton reveals that growing up in the limelight had a profound affect on his mental health. In his mid-to-late 20s, the star details how he started spending a lot of time in bars in Los Angeles and “drinking to escape”, which negatively impacted his professional life.

“Drinking becomes a habit at the best of times,” Felton writes in the memoir. “When you’re drinking to escape a situation, even more so. The habit spilled out of the bar and, from time to time, on to set.

“It came to the point where I would think nothing of having a drink while I was working. I’d turn up unprepared, not the professional I wanted to be. The alcohol, though, wasn’t the problem. It was the symptom.”

Felton reveals that the situation reached breaking point when his manager, agents and then-girlfriend Jade Olivia staged an intervention.

“Everybody in the room had written me a letter,” he recalls. “I listened to Jade and the others as they told me how concerned they were about my behaviour, about my drinking and my substance abuse. I was in no state to hear them.”

It was ultimately a letter from his lawyer that “hit the hardest” and persuaded Felton to get help.

“My lawyer, whom I’d barely ever met face to face, spoke with quiet honesty,” Felton wrote. “‘Tom,’ he said, ‘I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a nice guy. All I want to tell you is that this is the seventeenth intervention I’ve been to in my career. Eleven of them are now dead. Don’t be the twelfth.’”

Following the intervention, Felton checked into a rehab facility in Malibu, which he left less than 24 hours after checking in. Later, he was kicked out of a second facility after being found in a woman’s room, but eventually got back on track with another stint in rehab.

“I can honestly say it was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. But the very fact that I was able to admit to myself that I needed some help – and I was going to do something about it – was an important moment,” Felton recalls. “I am no longer shy of putting my hands up and saying: I’m not OK.

“I am not alone in having these feelings,” he continues. “Just as we all experience physical ill-health at some stage in our lives, so we all experience mental ill-health too. There’s no shame in that. It’s not a sign of weakness. And part of the reason that I took the decision to write these pages is the hope that by sharing my experiences, I might be able to help someone else who is struggling.”

The actor added that part of the reason why he decided to share his story is to break down the stigma people are subjected to when seeking therapy.

“To this day I never know which version of myself I’m going to wake up to. Which takes us back to the concept of rehab, and the stigma attached to the word. By no means do I want to casualise the idea of therapy – it’s a difficult first step to take – but I do want to do my bit to normalise it. I think we all need it in one shape or another, so why wouldn’t it be normal to talk openly about how we’re feeling?”

To access support for addiction and dependency, including dedicated helplines you can call, you can visit the Mind website. 

Images: Getty