Tom Felton Recalls ‘Awful’ Audition With Anthony Hopkins

Tom Felton recalled an “awful” audition he had with Anthony Hopkins.
It was for the 2012 movie “Hitchcock.”
“I proceeded to probably babble out the worst three minutes of improv,” Felton said.

Tom Felton didn’t show off his talents when he auditioned across from two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins for the 2012 movie “Hitchcock.”

The “Harry Potter” star recalled just how bad the experience was while on the recent episode of the podcast “Happy Sad Confused.”

“This was not my finest hour when it came to auditioning,” said Felton, who also details the experience in his recently-released memoir, “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard.”

The movie Felton went out for starred Hopkins as the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock.

“I got the sides very last minute,” Felton recalled. “I knew I wasn’t right for the role. I’ve never seen ‘Psycho’ — the film was about the making of ‘Psycho’ — I didn’t know anything particularly well, but I knew I wasn’t right for this.”

“I’ve very rarely called my agent before going into an audition and said, ‘I really don’t think this is for me,’ but I did on that occasion,” Felton continued. “They said, ‘Just go in as you always do. Just show your face, show you know the work, and trot on.’”

The problem was Felton didn’t feel he knew the material. And it also didn’t help that when he went to the audition he found he’d be doing it across from Hopkins himself.

Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock.

Fox Searchlight

“He decided to go off book. He was like, ‘Let’s put the scene down. Let’s just test the water with the characters,’” the actor recalled. “And I proceeded to probably babble out the worst three minutes of improv in an awful American accent that anyone has ever seen.”

Felton said he knew instantly that Hopkins wasn’t feeling it.

“He had a very graceful way of saying leave, which was, ‘Thanks very much for your time,’” Felton said. “I sheepishly tucked my tail and walked out that one.”

“Technically I have worked with Sir Anthony!” he joked about the experience. “I’m not sure if that goes on my resume.”