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Tom Felton reveals he has been back to rehab: 'Saying that I'm not ok has really empowered me'

The Harry Potter star spoke honestly about his mental health

Megan Bull
TV Writer
November 19, 2022
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Tom Felton has previously spoken about his time in rehab, particularly in his memoir Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, but in a new interview with The Guardian, he points to a more recent experience in a rehabilitation centre.

RELATED: Harry Potter star Alan Rickman's secret cancer battle while filming: revealed

After detailing his initial struggles with depression and subsequent rehab, he explained:

WATCH: See Tom Felton and Emma Watson reunite on the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Special

"Life has not changed massively since that experience, but I now know there's a resource that I can lean on." 

He added: "I went back to another clinic, or rehabilitation centre, of my own volition recently. Jumping in the ocean twice a day and walking my dog also helps. If it gets as bad as it did back then, I know the steps I can take. Saying that I'm not OK has really empowered me."

MORE: Harry Potter star Tom Felton jokingly takes credit for two major errors in Return to Hogwarts special

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During the interview, Tom also revealed that his mental health had started to suffer ten years after the Harry Potter franchise had been completed. 

In an emotional moment, he said: "Ten years after Potter, I felt depressed and I was visited by a professional interventionist and then went to rehab."

View post on Instagram
 

Tom has previously opened up about his time in rehab throughout his book Beyond The Wand

He continued: "I remember a sense of betrayal, confusion at why nobody had pulled me to one side and said: 'Here's a suggestion – stop going out drinking all the time.' Instead, it was affirmative action. In retrospect, I was lucky, because no one in that room wanted to be there. It was horrible – they purely did it because they loved me and knew something wasn't right."

While Tom has since spoken publicly about his experiences, the 35-year-old also explained why he had first found it so difficult to talk about his emotions. 

View post on Instagram
 

Tom has revealed that spending time with his dog has helped his mental health

"From the outside it was perfect: I had a dog, a nice car and a house in LA," he said. 

"You trick yourself into thinking, well, these are the things I've been told make you happy, but they don't. The reason I didn't talk about how I felt before was down to a mixture of being British and male and being told that because everything was apparently going great, I shouldn't complain."

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