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Tom Felton talks about escaping a rehab facility in Malibu in his new memoir Beyond the Wand.
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The “HP” star said he was sent there after the intervention and didn’t want to be there.
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Felton told USA Today that Emma Watson encouraged him to write candidly about his hardships in his book.
Tom Felton says ‘Harry Potter’ co-star and longtime friend Emma Watson motivated him in his new memoir about his shocking exit from rehab .Beyond Wands: Magic and Mayhem Growing as a Wizard.”
“Emma was a huge force of encouragement like, ‘This is going to resonate with people,'” Felton said in a recent interview. United States of America today In support of his book, he added, “It wouldn’t really seem right to just talk about all things fluffy.”
“After the encouragement, I felt a little more confident in myself. ‘This is what happened and this is part of my life,'” he said.
It was through the “Harry Potter” series that the Draco Malfoy actor met Watson, who played Hermione Granger.
Although the last film was released over a decade ago, the two are still close, Watson wrote the foreword to Felton’s memoirsFelton told USA Today that Watson was one of the “first people” to talk about the memoir.
“I was a little reluctant to talk about my family about my personal life, not just the great moments, but also some of the bad ones.” She was so inspired to say, “No, put everything out there. Believe in yourself. People will really connect with this.”
Felton spoke candidly about his alcohol use, rehab experience and mental health in a memoir released Tuesday
The actor said “life was good” when he moved to LA after “HP” with his dog Timber and then-girlfriend Jade Olivia.
But “gradually, as my work began to improve, the excruciating loneliness of Los Angeles receded and the joy of being in the public eye in that city began to emerge,” he said.
Felton said people started treating him like a celebrity, living a fake life and longing for his old life in England.
“When I was put in an environment where people were desperate to do something for me, I started to lose my ability to do things and think things for myself,” he said.
The “Flash” alum said his hardships in LA were multi-layered and that he probably had “other issues”. Ashley was hospitalized as a teenager, and her older brother Jonathan (called Zink) explained that the same thing happened as an adult.
“Los Angeles definitely made me feel extra lonely and disconnected from myself. Certainly, that feeling can cause mental health issues for anyone.”
Felton didn’t specifically discuss his mental health struggles, but said he found a way out at a West Hollywood bar called Barney’s Beanery, which he frequented in his mid-to-late 20s.
Felton said he was “not a heavy drinker” before, but “spending a lot of time in dive bars craving a normal life inevitably leads to heavy drinking”.
“I wasn’t particularly interested, but I started drinking a few pints a day before the sun went down on a regular basis, with a glass of whiskey each time,” he said. rice field.
Felton said his alcohol abuse led him to drink on set and to appear “unprepared” for work.
“But alcohol wasn’t the problem,” he said.
A drastic change in Felton’s lifestyle led to a “painful and humiliating” intervention by Olivia, his two managers, two agents, his lawyers and a professional intervener.
His team read aloud letters addressed to him about how worried they were. “Most hit” comes from his lawyer, who said that of the 17 interventions he’s done in his career, 11 have died and that Felton will be the next. Said he didn’t want it.
Felton said he was shocked when he was taken to a rehab center in Malibu shortly afterward because he felt the intervention was “an overreaction to a non-existent problem.”
After about 24 hours, Felton decided to flee rehab because he didn’t want to be there.
He said he walked for hours along the Malibu coastline without his belongings and jumped fences until he reached an empty beach.
Felton said he was “covered in mud and blood and sweat” at that point. He entered the water to release his built-up frustration and was unable to scream any more before he “shed a tear”.
“I was muddy, wet, disheveled and broken,” he recalled in the book. “My clothes were torn and dirty. I must have looked like a complete maniac. I certainly felt that way.”
Felton believes that three men saved him that night. The Uber driver who took him to Barneys. And then a bouncer named Nick at a bar crashes him home.
Regaining composure forced Felton to confront a difficult truth
No longer in love with her, he breaks up with Olivia and voluntarily goes to another, smaller rehab facility in the countryside. Felton enjoyed being there, but he broke too many rules and interfered with the recovery of others, so he was kicked out.
He felt “directionless” until he ran into an actor friend named Greg Shipes.
“That moment really reprogrammed who I am as a person,” he added, adding that Cipes showed him “unconditional kindness, generosity and understanding.”
At age 31, after living with Shipeth for a few months, Felton got his own Venice Beach shack and reset. This included buying new clothes, rescuing a dog named Willow, and getting the acting job he was really interested in.
Years later, Felton said, “the numbness returned” out of nowhere, without any warning or specific trigger. Did.
“Instead of refusing to acknowledge my mood swings, I came to accept my genetic predisposition.” I found a place I could ask for, and I can honestly say it was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
At the first rehab facility he attended, Felton learned that “helping others can be a powerful weapon in the fight against mood disorders.” I was hoping that I could help others.
Read the original article at insider