Tom Felton Dishes on His New Film 'Against the Sun,' Collecting 'Harry Potter' Memorabilia, & More (JJJ Interview)

Tom Felton Dishes on His New Film 'Against the Sun,' Collecting 'Harry Potter' Memorabilia, & More  (JJJ Interview)

Tom Felton gives JJJ the scoop on his film Against the Sun in this brand new interview!

The 27-year-old Harry Potter alum stars as one of three US Navy airmen during World War II who crash land their torpedo bomber in the South Pacific and find themselves on a tiny life raft, surrounded by open ocean.

No food. No water. No hope of rescue. Against incredible odds, these three virtual strangers must survive storms, sharks, starvation � and each other � as they try to sail more than a thousand miles to safety.

Against the Sun is now in theaters! Tom also dishes on being starstruck, his biggest fears, and Harry Potter fans. Check it:

JustJaredJr.com: Hi Tom! So what made you want to get involved in this film? What was the biggest challenge for you?

Tom Felton: I remember sitting down with Brian [Falk] our fearless director about the film and he did lots of research aabout the era and what these boys would have gone through day-to-day, and he mentioned a diet and how intense it was going to be. I sort of shrugged it off. “Yeah, yeah yeah,” not thinking much of it. But then we got down there, I wasn’t very educated when it comes to food and calories, and actually how much 600 calories a day actually was. I would have broccoli, half a chicken breast, and one slice of bread a day. It was very restricting. I managed to do it.

Click inside to read the rest of our interview with Tom Felton

JustJaredJr.com Interview – Tom Felton

JJJ: With such an intense movie like this, what was it like on set in between takes? Did you get to lighten the mood at all and bond with the guys?

TF: It was pretty good. Both Garret [Dillahunt] and Jake [Abel], especially Jake who is a huge string bean, they were definitely suffering more than I was in their lack of nutrition, but yeah, we were always kind of joking and playing with each other. When you spend that much time with each other, in the confines in a very small yellow raft, you get to know each other pretty well, pretty quickly, most mentally and physically. We got very close very quickly.

JJJ: Being stranded in the middle of the ocean is one of my biggest fears. What are some of your biggest fears?

TF: That’s one of them. We were quite lucky. It wasn’t that hard to imagine how scary that actually is – swimming in the ocean with like fifty feet beneath you is one of my biggest fears. The idea of what could come up and what could be around you terrifies me. We were shooting in a tank for most of the film, apart from one day when we actually went out into the ocean to film a couple of sequences. When we were out there, it was absolutely terrifying. We actually saw a whale about a hundred yards away and I literally shat myself. I put on a brave face because I was with the boys, but inside I was like, “Do not come any closer.” I think Jake was like, “Amazing. Wow.” And I was like, “Don’t come any closer.” I was terrified (laughs).

JJJ: Wow! That sounds scary! What was it like watching the finished product? Are you comfortable watching yourself on screen?

TF: I’ve never really watched much of what I’ve done, or really anything that I’ve done, and enjoyed it. Except this. It was such a roller coaster and such an intense journey that when we all got together – the fact that we were clothed and fed, almost unrecognizable from what we had known each other as, – it was very rewarding, sitting down and watching it together. Not just the actors, but everyone who was behind the scenes too. We were just very proud.

JJJ: What was the makeup process like?

TF: It was quite a lot. It was about an hour and some. As the days went on, the sunburn and the scabs got more intense and took a longer time. It wasn’t always easy to keep on as well because of the salt water in the air, we were getting wet…It took quite a while. The hair and makeup team worked around the clock to keep us looking sunburn and making sure it stayed that way.

JJJ: You often go to Harry Potter events where you encounter starstruck fans. Have you ever been starstruck?

TF: I’m sure I have. I certainly have. Actually I got quite starstruck when Tony Pastula, the character that I play, his actual wife came down on to the set with her family – her grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. It was a real moment, sort of shock, meeting the woman who kept him going. That was definitely a moment I wasn’t quite sure what to say and I was worried she was disapprove of me playing her husband. Otherwise, I got retweeted by Ricky Gervais today and that was the highlight of my social media career.

JJJ: Haha! Awesome. We loved watching you on Murder in the First, by the way. Any chance we may see you on television again?

TF: Yeah. I don’t really plan for the future between the two, I just kind of fall for the characters that I enjoy playing, and the stories I want to be involved in telling. And obviously, people. I’m a people person and base my decisions on who I’m working with rather than what it’s about. Working with Steven Bochco and working in that medium, was something that really appealed to me. And Against the Sun is this epic story I couldn’t believe hadn’t been told, and Brian really….Brian’s passion and his knowledge, and that whole story was really epic. I was very excited about it.

JJJ: If you could guest-star on any TV show, which would it be?

TF: I mean, my teenage boy self would have said probably Entourage (laughs). Now, maybe Game of Thrones, House of Cards, or Breaking Bad. I was fighting to play Jesse’s brother. That would have been cool. And again, Derek would be an all time great.

JJJ: You just bought a house in L.A. Do you have any Harry Potter memorabilia lying around?

TF: Absolutely. The walls are covered with it. No, the truth is my lovely girlfriend has a picture in the office. There are a few different pieces. We want to Potter World not so long ago and had to get all the goodies I could get my hands on. We got some goodies up on the wall, for sure.

JJJ: You’re currently abroad shooting a documentary. Anything you can tell us about that?

TF: Not a whole lot. We’re sort of in the final stages of it now. It’s a documentary looking into the lives of the world’s biggest fanatics, super fans. Mostly in the lines of the Comic Con, convention-style fans. But yeah, it’s been a whirlwind trip, checking out the world’s biggest fans and trying to get some insight into why they do it and why it’s such great fun for them.

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Photos: The American Film Company
Posted to: Exclusive, Movies, Tom Felton