Christian Coulson, Tom Riddle’s first fan
If we had one thing to remember from the solo Q&A of Christian Coulson is that the actor of Tom Riddle is a real fan of his character. He would not have liked to play any other part than his since it’s always been his favorite character in the books. If he really is forced to choose another character, he would turn to Lord Voldemort or Severus Snape even if he has a soft spot for Miverva McGonagall who reminds him of his own teachers.
For Christian Coulson, Tom Riddle could have turned out differently since he had the choice, just like Harry, to choose between Slytherin and Gryffindor. The British actor finds it interesting to see how a person’s experience can influence his choices. He thinks that the lack of love that Tom Riddle suffered in his childhood is one of the reason that led him to become the man we know.
During this Q&A, Christian Coulson admitted that JK Rowling never told him additional information about his character to help him in his interpretation. However, the British actor read the books in order to understand Tom Riddle more and told us that the theories he had made in his head were true at the end.
Christian Coulson and his experience on set
To have the part of Tom Riddle, the British actor went through the classical round of auditions. Despite everything, he didn’t think he would get the role because he arrived 1:30 late at his second audition because of a train problem. Chris Colombus does not seem to have mind since he won a key part in the saga. Despite the importance of his character, Christian Coulson said he was not really pressured to play Tom Riddle, especially since the Pottermania was less important then than now.
Christian Coulson took advantage of his solo Q&A to give us some anecdotes about the shooting. For example, for the scene with Basilisk, which filming lasted 8 weeks, the actors had to make their imagination work since the reptile was actually a tennis ball on a stick. He also told us that he had learned Parseltongue while listening to tapes of an Oxford professor who is behind the creation of this language.
Christian Coulson regrets one thing about his experience with Harry Potter. If he had the chance to shoot with Richard Harris in the second installment of the saga, an actor he admired since his childhood, he told the audience : “I’m sad that, uh, I did not work with Alan Rickman “(said in French at the Q&A).
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– He finds interesting the play of word present in the French name of “Tom Elvis Jédusor”.
– If he were at Hogwarts, he would see himself at the Slytherin’s house.
– Christian Coulson thinks he has kept a prefect badge but he doesn’t know where he put it.
– His favorite movie of the saga is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
– Christian Coulson had taken acting lessons a few years before getting his role as Tom Riddle.
– He was amazed to see so many children at the convention. It shows the transgenerational nature of Harry Potter according to him.
– The actor who plays Harry Potter in the play was Christian Coulson‘s roomate during a festival.
– Christian Coulson played in Nashville, Bite Me (a romantic comedy with a vampire) and Mozart in The Jungle since his experience in Harry Potter.
– Fun fact: the actor asked the translation of Mozart in The Jungle in French to Siri, on his iPhone. Siri was not able to answer him.
– He did not know that there was a fan-movie explaining how Tom Marvolo Riddle became Voldemort. The fan-movie is available since January 13, 2018 on YouTube.
– The iPod came out during the shooting of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) had one and it was her who taught Christian Coulson to use the one he had just bought. She was only 10 years old at the time.
– If Christian Coulson could play any other role, he would choose – after a long hesitation – Frodo in the Lord of the Rings or Richard II of Shakespeare.
Christian Coulson 
Harry Potter 
People Convention
