Hermione Granger hitting Draco in Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the most cheered scenes in the whole series.
What fans did not know for years is that Tom Felton got hit for real long before the cameras rolled and he asked for it.
When Did Emma Watson Slap Tom Felton?
During the filming of Chamber of Secrets, the second film.
Felton learned on that set that Hermione would hit Draco in the third story.
He tracked Watson down and offered to rehearse.
In his memoir, Beyond the Wand, his opening line is: “Do you want to practise slapping me?”.
He meant a stage slap, a fake one actors use.
Watson did not know that.
While he was still explaining technique, she sized him up and hit him as hard as she could.
His summary of the damage: “She nearly had me in tears”.
Emma Watson And Tom Felton 2003 – @Getty
The memoir adds one more detail that makes it funnier: he admits he was lying about having seen the scene in the script.
In the book, Hermione slaps Draco. In the 2004 film, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, she punches him.
Felton has said he is still confused about when the slap became a punch.
He told MTV the scene began as a slap, and gave Watson full credit for her form: “She’s got a mean right hook, that girl”.
Some fan sites claim Watson improvised the punch. I found no interview where she or the director confirms it, so treat that as a rumour.
Watson Had A Double In The Scene
Watson’s body double, Flick Miles, filmed parts of the scene as well. “I filmed the scene as well and so did Emma,” she said, explaining that editors combine both versions.
She saw it as a turning point for Hermione, the moment she stops keeping the boys in check and acts on her own anger.
Off screen, Felton was not much nicer than Draco at the start.
At his first audition he was rude to a frizzy-haired girl he did not know. “It also turns out I saw that girl two months later,” he said, and she was Emma Watson.
Tom Felton arrives for the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” November 4, 2001 in London – @Getty
In his memoir he admits: “My relationship with Emma did not start well”.
On the first film’s set, Watson put on a little dance show in her dressing room for the older boys. Felton and his friends laughed through it. “We were predictably dismissive,” he wrote.
He has said that memory still hurts him today.
The 2 became very close as teenagers, once Felton learned about her crush on him. His reaction, in the 2022 reunion: “I became very protective over her”.
Watson wrote the foreword to his memoir and called him her soulmate.
@Getty
Today the slap is a story he tells like a trophy, and fans love it because Hermione won both the scene and the rehearsal.
Where Does The Scene Happen?
The punch comes near Hagrid’s hut, when Draco mocks the coming execution of Buckbeak.
Watson was about 13 when Prisoner of Azkaban was filmed.
The best part is the order of events. Felton took the real hit a year or more early, so by the time the cameras rolled, he knew exactly how hard she swings.
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I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.