Tom Felton, Murder in the First - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: TOM FELTON ON “MURDER IN THE FIRST”
By Abbie Bernstein

Although he still looks very youthful, similar to how he did in his latter HARRY POTTER days, actor Tom Felton is in a mood no one would associate with Draco Malfoy, his character from the long-running film series. At the Television Critics Association press tour on behalf of TNT’s freshman series MURDER IN THE FIRST, Felton seems positively joyful, using the phrase “dream come true” to describe various aspects of working on the show.

Not that Felton’s MURDER character, Erich Blunt, is a particularly cheerful fellow. Indeed, one could draw some parallels between him and Draco. Yes, Erich is a self-made billionaire and Draco has inherited his wealth and power from his family, but both are very nasty, highly entitled people who wind up suspected of murder. In Erich’s case, it looks like he may have killed his assistant; he’s certainly obstructing San Francisco police detectives Terry English (Taye Diggs) and Hildy Mulligan (Kathleen Robertson) at every turn.

Felton acknowledges that both Erich and Draco have mean streaks and feel they should automatically get what they want, consequences be damned. However, he adds, “Personally, I think that’s where the similarities end, really, between Draco and Erich. I mean, the fact that one’s a wizard and one is a tech genius [makes them] two very separate entities, but I hear what you are saying. I feel like they are completely separate characters internally. The previous character was certainly more of a shaped individual, someone who was sort of bullied into being who he was. I feel like Erich is a very focused individual, and he hasn’t had the influence of his parents to sort of craft him into who he is.”

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Felton, who hails from Surrey, England, began acting when he was eight years old. His first bigscreen appearance was as the “Borrower” Peagreen Clock in the 1997 film THE BORROWERS, adapted from Mary Norton’s children’s books. He went on to play the son of Jodie Foster’s character in 1999’s ANNA AND THE KING. More recently, he played a comedic version of himself in 2010’s GET HIM TO THE GREEK, an ill-tempered menagerie worker in 2011’s RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, an unfortunate young man caught up in a curse in THE APPARITION, Elizabeth Olsen’s husband and Jessica Lange’s son in 2013’s IN SECRET and an eighteenth-century aristocrat in BELLE. In addition to being an actor, Felton is a talented singer. He co-founded the recording company Six String Productions, which seeks out and produces new musical talent.

Felton also costarred in the British miniseries LABYRINTH, which aired last year in the U.S., but MURDER IN THE FIRST is his first American network series. Was he specifically looking to work on a U.S. show? “I wasn’t really focused on any medium specifically,” Felton replies. “Someone just touched on it briefly – we are in a golden age of television, I think – the quality of TV in the last five years has been phenomenal. So I was just looking for a great character, and Erich definitely is that, and also, the chance to work with [creators/executive producers] Steven [Bochco] and Eric [Lodal] is really a dream come true.”

Given that Erich has made his fortune in the technical arena, Felton says he had to learn how to pronounce various phrases unknown to ordinary folks. “Yeah, quite a bit of technical jargon, lots of computer analogy references that I was trying to understand them rather than just say them,” he laughs, “so I did try and get my head around a few bits and pieces.”

Did he have to learn anything else for the role? “Just general San Francisco qualities and what it’s like to grow up there and stuff. Luckily, I have a few friends who went to SFU [San Francisco University].”

Although most of the standing sets for MURDER IN THE FIRST are in Los Angeles, the show does some location filming in San Francisco. Had Felton visited the city before? “Briefly, as a child, but I have very small memories of it, so it’s exciting that we get a chance to go see more of it.”

There is absolutely nothing Felton can tease about the plot. “I’ve been told not to give away any spoilers,” he explains. “I can’t squeeze any information out of Eric or Steven, so this is it. I’ll get a rap on my hands,” he laughs. “It’s very exciting to get a new script every week.”

Is there anything else Felton would like to say about MURDER IN THE FIRST at this time? “Just how excited I am, not only to be doing this show with the great cast and crew we have, but also to be in California to do it. It’s a dream come true.”

Interviewed by Abbie Bernstein