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Emma Watson says she and 'Harry Potter' costar Tom Felton are 'soulmates.' Here are their cutest moments together.

Oct 21, 2022, 20:12 IST
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On the left: Emma Watson wearing a white floral gown in October 2021. On the right: Tom Felton wearing a navy suit and bow-tie in November 2021.Samir Hussein/WireImage; Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
  • Emma Watson and Tom Felton met through their "Harry Potter" roles as Hermione and Draco.
  • Watson said she "fell in love" with Felton, but they never had a romantic relationship.
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Emma Watson and Tom Felton are known for their roles as Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" franchise, and they've been friends for a decade.

The two stars met on the set of the first "Harry Potter" movie, which hit theaters in November of 2001. To this day, they remain close and share photos and videos from their reunions.

Here's a roundup of Watson and Felton's sweetest moments along with things they've said about each other.

In a 2011 cover story for Seventeen magazine, Watson said that she had a crush on Felton during the first two 'Harry Potter' films

From left: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and at the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in July 2009.Peter Kramer/AP

"He was my first crush," she said. "He totally knows. We talked about it — we still laugh about it. We are really good friends now, and that's cool."

Felton later said that he found Watson's revelation to be 'flattering'

Tom Felton in 2014.Jonathan Short/Invision/AP

"We've been friends for a long time and it's very flattering," he told Metro UK. "I had a little boy crush on Helena Bonham Carter [who played Bellatrix Lestrange], she's a very beautiful woman."

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While appearing on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' the following year, Watson said that she had a big crush on Felton when she was a preteen

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.Warner Bros. Pictures

"Between the ages of 10 and 12, I had a really terrible crush on Tom Felton," she said on the talk show. "We love a bad guy and he was a few years older and he had a skateboard. And that just did it, really. He used to do tricks on it. He was so cool."

"He totally knew [about the crush] and the thing is that he'd tell everyone, 'I see her in a younger, sisterly way,' and it just broke my heart. It still does," she added.

'Harry Potter' producer David Heyman reportedly said that Felton helped Watson navigate her increasing fame

Emma Watson and Tom Felton in 2011.Joel Ryan/AP

"There was a time on the third film where Emma was really uncomfortable with her celebrity and what it meant," Heyman reportedly said at a roundtable event. "And Tom was absolutely brilliant. We were filming Hagrid's lesson with the Hippogriff, and Tom and Emma were really friendly, and Tom really encouraged Emma to engage with the fans in the way that she hadn't. It was like she needed someone, a friend, to go on that [journey] with her. They were all looking out for each other."

In 2016, Felton said they were just friends

Tom Felton and Emma Watson at the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" in 2011.Evan Agostini/AP

"We were always very close, but no, nothing of that nature," Felton told "E! News" at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Universal Studios Hollywood. "Sorry to disappoint."

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He had a similar response to Seventeen magazine at the event, saying that he wasn't aware of her crush at the time of filming.

"No. Sorry I'm being a bit aloof with my answers," Felton said.

The following year, Felton attended the premiere of Watson's 'Beauty and the Beast' reboot

Tom Felton in March 2017.gotpap/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Felton skipped the red carpet at the event, but costar Matthew Lewis (who played Neville Longbottom in the franchise) was in attendance and posed for paparazzi photos.

In April 2018, Felton shared a photo of himself with Watson and Lewis

"School mates #hogwartsalumni," he captioned the black-and-white image.

Ahead of the release of Felton's YouTube original series called 'Origin' in late 2018, Watson showed support by posting a selfie of the two at the beach

"Congrats dear friend," she wrote.

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The actress also said that Felton had been "tolerating my subpar skating skills since 1999" (which is likely when they first met) and shared a video of them skateboarding.

"Easy with the wobbling, keep your feet still!" Felton said while Watson laughed behind him.

He went on to jokingly tell her that she was "dancing around on the board like a clown."

Felton later told Us Weekly that they hang out more often than fans would expect

Emma Watson and Tom Felton are known for their roles as Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movies.Evan Agostini/Invision/AP and Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

"We do see each other quite a lot actually," he said in 2018. "We just don't always post pictures about it. Everyone loves the reunion of it. We're reuniting all the time. We just don't always post it on Instagram."

The actor went on to explain that Watson happened to be "in my neighborhood and I hadn't seen her for a few months."

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"I decided to take her for a skateboarding lesson, which she was very good at," he said. "She's quite hard on herself. But she's actually very good at it. So yeah, that was fun. I always enjoy spending time with her."

In August 2019, Felton posted a photo of him teaching Watson how to play the guitar

"Quick learner x," he captioned the image, which showed both of them wearing pajamas as Watson held a guitar and Felton showed her how to hold the instrument.

The photo was liked by over a million people and fans rallied for the stars to date.

Felton dispelled romance speculation and called Watson 'a fantastic influence on the world'

"We are something if that makes any sense," he told Entertainment Tonight in June 2021. "We've been very close for a long time. I adore her. I think she's fantastic. Hopefully, she returns the compliment."

He continued: "As far as the romantic side of it, I think that's a Slytherin/Gryffindor thing rather than a Tom and Emma thing.

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"I absolutely think the world of her," Felton said. "I think to be a part of what we've all been a part of, but for her to be the only girl, certainly the youngest one on set, to grow up with what she had to grow up with was incredibly exciting. You're going to get me teary now, but no, I think she's a fantastic influence on the world."

The costars met up for HBO Max's 'Harry Potter' 20th anniversary reunion special and said that they love each other, but nothing romantic ever occurred

Emma Watson and Tom Felton in HBO Max's "Harry Potter" 20th anniversary special.Nick Wall

"Emma and I have always loved each other, really," Felton said in his solo interview for "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts," which was released in January 2022.

In her interview, Watson vividly recalled the moment that she "fell in love" with Felton when they were kids.

"I walked into the room where we were having tutoring," she said. "The assignment that had been given was to draw what you thought God had looked like and Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard. And I just don't know how to say it, I just fell in love with him."

The actress also said that she would look for his number on the call sheet "every day," and if she saw that he was scheduled to be on set, "it was an extra exciting day."

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"I became very protective over her," Felton said, mentioning that he was informed of her crush on him. "I've always had a soft spot for her and that continues to the day."

Watson said that she felt she "could often be more vulnerable with" Felton on set.

"Nothing has ever, ever, ever, ever happened romantically with us," she clarified. "We just love each other. That's all I could say about that."

Watson said that she and Felton speak 'most weeks'

The actress was asked about how she felt about the fan reaction to her childhood crush on Felton in an interview with British Vogue, conducted after the reunion special was released and published in January 2022.

"We speak most weeks, and we just think it's sweet," she said.

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Watson called them 'soulmates' in the foreword of Felton's memoir, 'Beyond the Wand,' released in October 2022

Tom Felton and Emma Watson in May 2002.Dave Benett/Getty Images

"The friendship we share has allowed me to move through some of the most challenging and soul-searching moments in my life," she wrote in the book.

Watson described Felton as "creative, sensitive, and whole-hearted" and said their relationship is "one of the purest loves I can think of."

"We're soulmates, and we've always had each other's backs," she said. "I know we always will. It makes me emotional to think about it."

Felton said that he 'always had a secret love' for Watson

Emma Watson and Tom Felton in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."Warner Bros.

"I've always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear," Felton wrote in a chapter of his memoir. "That isn't to say there's never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times."

"I don't think I was ever in love with Emma, but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else," he added.

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In an interview with USA Today, Felton also credited Watson with giving him the encouragement to be open about his experience escaping from rehab, which he details in the later chapters of his memoir, and other challenging moments in his life.

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