Tom Felton may have achieved stardom with his role in the Harry Potter movies, but he says that it actually played a negative role in his dating life. Felton was only 13 years old when he was cast to help bring JK Rowling’s vision of the Wizarding World to life in The Sorcerer's Stone. Despite his age, Felton had already starred in several films prior to his Harry Potter debut but it was his inclusion in the franchise that truly established his career.
The young actor was chosen by director Christopher Columbus to portray the infamous Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s classmate and long-term nemesis. In the series, Draco is an affluent and extremely arrogant pureblood wizard who is irked by the popularity of Harry and his friends. His disdain for Harry leads to constant confrontations between the two Hogwarts students. Draco’s slicked-back blonde hair and smug smirk became trademark looks for Felton’s character throughout the series.
Felton reprised the part for all eight Harry Potter movies, causing his image to become synonymous with his onscreen counterpart. For many, it is hard to picture anyone else embodying Draco since Felton played the character so well. However, this association also proved to be detrimental to Felton’s social life. In an interview with The Guardian, Felton recalled how his appearance onscreen dissuaded girls from dating him. See what he had to say about the situation below.
“Some people really struggle with the idea that I wasn't this special, popular kid, but I was walking around with dyed hair and played an evil wizard. It wasn't cool. It did me no favors with the girls.”
Felton spent over nine years, a large amount of his childhood, portraying Draco. Due to the character's nature, Draco is widely disliked by Harry Potter audiences for his evil motives and cowardice, however, he is also someone that they love to hate. Unfortunately for Felton, when an actor plays such a notable role for a prolonged period of time, viewers often attribute the personality they see on screen to the actual performer playing them. Felton's struggles are a prime example of this.
Although Felton claims that his signature look and villainous perception repelled girls, there is plenty of evidence that points otherwise. Co-star Emma Watson has previously confessed that she had a "huge crush" on the actor while filming. He also met his ex-girlfriend Jade Olivia Gordon on the set of the final Harry Potter movie. Unless Felton happened to smuggle some love potions from the set, these two facts alone are enough to make one wonder if Felton is just being modest.
Source: The Guardian