Tom Felton opens up about 'escaping' rehab and dealing with his alcoholism
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Actor Tom Felton, best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie franchise, has opened up about his difficult relationship with alcohol and subsequent stays in rehab, saying his co-star, Emma Watson, has always been a big supporter during turbulent times.
When writing about his alcoholism in his new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, Tom said it reached the point where drinking - which began as an escape for him - started to interfere with his work. "I went from being not particularly interested [in alcohol] to regularly having a few pints a day before the sun had even gone down, and a shot of whiskey to go with each of them."
After an intervention was staged by his girlfriend and management team, who threatened to drop him, Tom said that although he still wasn't ready to admit he had a problem, he agreed to enter a rehabilitation facility in Malibu. However, he made a break for it after a few days – hoping to walk several miles to a bar in Hollywood. Along the way, Tom recalls that he stopped into a petrol station, where a man handed him $20 and a bottle of water, and asked him to consider whether or not he was really a "rich man" in his life.
The actor also said he wasn't sure whether or not he ought to include his addiction struggles in the new book, but decided to after some words of encouragement from his good friend Emma, who played Hermione Grainger in the film series.
"Emma (Watson) was a big force of encouragement to be like, 'This will resonate with people'," he recalled to USA Today. "It wouldn't really seem right just to talk about all the fluffy stuff. After encouragement, I was given a bit more confidence in myself to go, 'You know what? This happened, and this is part of my life'."
That man's comment about being 'rich', Tom says, has long stuck with him too – and luckily, after experiencing a few different rehab programmes, he found one that clicked and set him on the path to recovery. That's not to say everything has been plain sailing from then on out though, the actor candidly admits, however his approach to mental health has been permanently changed.
"I'm no longer shy of putting my hands up and saying: I'm not okay," he writes. "To this day, I never know which version of myself I’m going to wake up to."
We think it's brave and brilliant that Tom is sharing his story to help others.
If you're concerned about your relationship with alcohol, Drink Aware advises contacting your GP for support, reaching out to a local treatment provider (where you can self-refer) or contacting a local community alcohol support service, like AA or SMART Recovery, directly.
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