Tom Felton Joins Cast of “Gandhi” Series
Harry Potter’s Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) has joined the cast of the upcoming series Gandhi, which is set to be directed by Hansel Mehta and produced by Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment.
The series follows a young Gandhi (played by Pratik Gandhi), who moves to London to study law and misses vegetarian food. Felton will play Josiah Oldfield, one of the founders of the Vegetarian Society of London, which Gandhi chances upon when visiting a vegetarian restaurant.
Oldfield is an influential figure in Gandhi’s life, encouraging him to start writing for the Vegetarian Magazine.
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Felton said (via Deadline) he is “excited” to be helping tell the story of Gandhi’s time in London.
It’s an important aspect of history that hasn’t been told on screen before, and to be working with Hansal and Pratik is an honour and pleasure.
Tom also spoke to Variety about how Oldfield and Gandhi have shaped the world as we know it now.
It is about the relationship between the two of them and how they found each other at exactly the right time. And how without meeting each other, their lives would have definitely been different. Certainly, Gandhi’s would have been and therefore the whole world would have been a very different place.
Since there aren’t many photos available, Felton found that authentic costumes and shooting on location helped him shape his character. He prepared for the role through a mix of reading, being around the show’s director, and talking to his 93-year-old grandfather, whom Felton described as “very wise in history, so he knew exactly who Oldfield was.”
Most of my research has been on the spot, literally live with the director. That’s the best thing about working with not only an Indian crew, but someone that knows a lot more about it than than Wikipedia.
As well as working on Gandhi, the Potter star is appearing in the stage production A Child of Science this June at Bristol Old Vic theater in Bristol, England. Despite his new roles, Tom claimed that he is still recognizable to Harry Potter fans even without Malfoy’s iconic blonde hair.
He thinks it is “amazing” that the love for the Wizarding World has spread worldwide.
Everywhere seems to have known of it. Now there’s a whole new generation of Potter fans — a lot of fans that approach me are 13-14-15, and they weren’t even born when the first book was written. So to see it being passed down generation to generation is really cool. Something that I’m very proud of.
There is no official release date yet for Gandhi, but it is currently in production. Are you looking forward to seeing Tom Felton take on the role of Gandhi’s influential vegetarian friend?
