Who did Harry Potter’s Tom Felton confuse Gary Oldman for on set?

When Gary Oldman was first brought onto the Harry Potter set, Tom Felton didn’t realize he was an actor. He thought he was one of the members of the crew!

Imagine confusing Gary Oldman for anyone other than Gary Oldman. The Academy Award winning actor was an integral part of the Harry Potter world and has always become his characters, regardless of who they are. But Tom Felton didn’t realize that he was an actor, let alone the actor playing Sirius Black.

During LeakyCon Dallas earlier this month, Felton admitted that he thought Oldman was one of the crew members. And not just any crew member, you know, like the director, the cinematographer, or others that you’d likely recognize the names of. Nope, he thought Oldman was one of the cleaners.

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Now, we’re not saying a cleaner isn’t an important job. It is because, without cleaners, the work to make the set look clean and to keep the space hygienic for all would be left to the actors, other crew members, and more and take time away from valuable filming time. However, it seems crazy to think that Felton would mistake Oldman for a cleaner.

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But mistaking Oldman for a cleaner was a good thing when you read between the lines of FanFest’s report. The younger actors didn’t know who the older actors were. When it came to learning from them, they could go in with confidence and not feel any superiority come from them.

It shows just how down to Earth Oldman, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, and so many others are. They made the younger cast members feel comfortable, and that immediately set the tone and allowed them to learn and grow throughout the years on the movies.

It has certainly shown in the long run. While we still think of the actors as their Harry Potter counterparts, we’ve also had a chance to see their acting styles adapt and grow. Now they’re the ones giving advice to younger actors, and they’ve learned from the best on how to do it with grace and gratitude.