‘Harry Potter’ star Tom Felton had the opportunity to meet up with superfans all over the world as his new BBC documentary seeks to examine how far these dedicated fans can go when it comes to their devotion.
Titled ‘Tom Felton Meets the Superfans’, the program shows the 27-year-old actor exploring the motives, challenges, experiences, and everything else in between for superfans all over the globe.
"People were dressed up as Stormtroopers, Gandalf and Dumbledore and my mates thought it was fascinating but also really weird," Felton said in an interview with BBC, describing his experience at a fan convention. "Yet my friends were more than happy to dress up in a football kit and scream at the TV for Manchester United, even though they've never even been to Manchester. Why is kicking a ball into a net any less weird than liking a fictitious wizard?"
While there may be a considerably large number of fans who remain strongly devoted to the Harry Potter books and films, Felton shared that he has been greatly inspired by a middle-aged woman, named Tina - his own superfan who has gone around the world to follow the actor for the past 15 years.
Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, was also shown chatting it up with co-star Daniel Radcliffe and author J.K. Rowling in the documentary. However, his personal visits to the homes of the superfans were found to bring greater understanding.
He also shared his previous encounters with fans of the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise.
"When you see fans at premieres usually it's the same faces but you only see them for 10 seconds at a time," the actor said. "[But] they start to build up a relationship of support and recognition with the stars—it's hugely rewarding."
Earlier on, he opened up to This Morning about his main reason for making the documentary, saying that he has been wanting to explore the reasons as to why fans can stick around to waiting outside hotels while being dressed up as fictional characters.
“You don’t get to explore why they do it, whether it’s a good thing or a weird thing,” Felton explained.
