Tom Felton returns as Draco Malfoy in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Earlier tonight, Tom Felton made his first appearance on Broadway as Draco Malfoy!

He reprises his role as Draco 15 years after he last played him in the Harry Potter films. pic.twitter.com/K392WjWR6U

Felton’s entrance was met with a standing ovation lasting nearly 30 seconds before he delivered his first line, “I need a favor.” The moment, captured and shared by the play’s official Instagram account, was captioned with a nostalgic nod to Malfoy’s early days at Hogwarts: “It’s true then, what they’re saying on the train,” referencing his line from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Set 19 years after the events of J.K. Rowling’s original series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child follows the next generation of Hogwarts students — including the children of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy — as they navigate legacy, friendship, and magic.

Felton’s return marks the first time a principal actor from the film series has joined the stage adaptation, which premiered in London’s West End in 2016 before opening on Broadway in 2018. He is scheduled to perform in the role for a 19-week engagement.

The casting announcement, made earlier this year, carried deep emotional significance for Felton. Reflecting on his return to the character, he told Deadline: “It’s very, very easy to get emotional. When they put my blond wig on for the theater production, I just immediately cried. It was just sort of like a blast from the past.”

He added that stepping into the role again offered both familiarity and novelty: “As much as it is reprising an old role for me, it’s very much treading into new, unfamiliar territory. I know him quite well as a kid. I don’t know him that well as an adult.”

Felton’s return has been widely celebrated by fans, marking a full-circle moment in the actor’s connection to the Harry Potter legacy.