How do you keep things fresh with a character you've been playing nearly half your life? It helps if, as is the case with "Harry Potter" star Tom Felton and his role as blond bad guy Draco Malfoy, you get to step away and take on a new role in a decidedly un-"Potter"-like film. And it's doubly advantageous if your established character is evolving in ways that make him a far different person than he once was.

That's where the 22-year-old Felton finds himself at the moment, as the actor begins filming "The Apparition" in Berlin and gets set to return for the end of shooting on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." As Felton told MTV News from across the pond, Malfoy undergoes changes in J.K. Rowling's final boy-wizard book that reveal previously unseen layers within him and which present a welcome challenge as an actor.

"It was one of the things I was really looking forward to with 'Deathly Hallows,' " he said. "My personal opinion is, deep down, Draco is desperate to get out of what he's in. In 'Half-Blood Prince,' he had a real wake-up call, realizing this is not what he wants to do, this isn't the path he wants to go down. Unfortunately, his parental influences aren't too good. He's kind of forced into the dark side. It's hard when Voldemort is sort of your step-uncle, in a weird way."

But in "Deathly Hallows," Draco begins to indulge some of his more redemptive qualities, leading to a few compelling moments between him and longtime adversary Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). Felton said he's had long talks with director David Yates about the best way to approach the good/evil duality within Draco, and the payoff has been a couple thrilling on-camera confrontations with Radcliffe.

"Harry and Draco almost have a bond, and they save each other's lives on numerous occasions," he said. "It's a really weird love/hate relationship. It's great that it's left to our interpretation of how and why this is all happening. We have shot some really interesting stuff with me and Daniel — me saving him and him saving me. For once, we're not just bickering!"

In particular, Felton is proud of his work on a massive battle scene at Hogwarts between Harry Potter and his Dark Arts-enabled adversaries. "That's a fantastic moment in the courtyard, where it's kind of like a Western showdown between good and evil, and Draco's the only character where you have to go from one side to the other," he said.

It's like a little coming together party of actors and actresses from the biggest teen hits nowadays: first "Twilight's" Ashley Greene, then "Gossip Girl's" Sebastian Stan and now "Harry Potter's" Tom Felton have all signed on to star in the supernatural thriller, "The Apparition."

Shock Till You Drop announced today that the man best known for playing Harry Potter's archnemesis Draco Malfoy will take his first leading role as the main character, Patrick. We're assuming Ashley Greene is playing his girlfriend, a character named Kelly in this film, while Sebastian is playing postgrad Ben who's trying to figure out what to do next with his life.


This will be Tom's first big foray into the American film industry beyond his role in "Harry Potter." We're guessing filming on "Deathly Hallows" has already wrapped, if not in the process, for Tom to be taking on such a leading role.

It's great to see an actor who has shown such growth over the past decade have a chance to break out from the mold the "Harry Potter" series has made for him. Hopefully Patrick won't end up being as obnoxious a boyfriend as the one in "Paranormal Activity" (the film which "The Apparition" keeps getting compared to).

Based on true events, "The Apparition" tells the story of a couple haunted by a supernatural presence unleashed during a college experiment. Beyond that — and fact filming has begun on the movie .— little is known about its premise.

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe came top of the survey to find out who people think would be the best Valentine’s Day kisser, ahead of Johnny Depp and Twilight and New Moon hunk Robert Pattinson – who came ahead of his fellow Twilight stars Kellan Lutz and Taylor Lautner.


In the poll for Park Christmas Savings, Daniel pulled in a massive 53 per sent of the vote, with Johnny in second place with 36 per cent and Robert Pattinson in third with a lowly 3 per cent.


Other stars to make the list include the new hubby of Jordan, Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid, who came in fifth place.


Other Twilight stars also feature in the list – Kellan Lutz and Taylor Lautner, who come in sixth and seventh place respectively.


Who would be the best Valentine’s Day kisser?
1. Daniel Radcliffe
2. Johnny Depp
3. Robert Pattinson
4. Cory Monteith
5. Alex Reid
6. Kellan Lutz
7. Taylor Lautner
8. Jackson Rathbone
9. Brad Pitt
10. Mark Salling