Tom Felton made $16 million in 31 minutes and 45 seconds
Topics: Harry Potter, Film and TV, Celebrity, Money
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.
Topics: Harry Potter, Film and TV, Celebrity, Money
No, we're not joking, in little over half-an-hour Harry Potter star Tom Felton made a whopping $16 million.
When I was in my teens, I walked dogs for £10-an-hour and taught drama, dance and singing to small, screeching children, making £12 for two-and-a-half hours, so Felton getting paid $16 million (£14 million) for half-an-hour hardly seems like a fair deal, does it?
Although, saying that, the character of Draco Malfoy is iconic and his appearances on screen - albeit fleeting - make for some of the best and most tense moments of the Harry Potter franchise.
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In making an astounding $16 million for 31 minutes and 45 seconds - oh, and all by the age of 22 - Felton was effectively paid $523,943 (£451,613) per minute of screen time.
If you wanted to be even more flabbergasted, then think how this compares to the likes of Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe - the trio who were on screen a whole lot more.
Grint is reported as having 211 minutes of screen time, Watson had 205 minutes and Radcliffe a mega 539 minutes, as per IMDB.
For his role as Ron Weasley, Grint was paid a reported $43 million (£37 million), Watson made $72 million (£62 million) playing Hermione Granger and Radcliffe took home even more money than most of us would know what to do with, at $97 million (£84 million).
I have to admit I'd probably take Radcliffe's more boring route and save all my cash, opposed to buying an ice cream van like Grint or splashing it on luxury cars like Felton.
In 2010, the actor told the Daily Mail that he hadn't been quite as sensible as he could have, buying 'a lot of rubbish things that kids buy'.
He said: "[I bought] skateboards and clothes and typical teenage stuff. And, as soon as I could, I wasted a lot of money on cars - BMWs mostly - for myself and my family.
"My mum told me: 'You have worked hard for it so get what you want, but beware, you will lose money on cars'. And she was right."
Felton's spending went so far that there was even 'a scary two years' when he got in 'trouble with the taxman'.
"I had been working for eight years and all I had to show for it was this horrible debt. At one point we had the bailiff at the door," he added.
The actor has since been a lot more careful with his money, and has spent time sitting down and understanding VAT and tax.
But with Felton having started the Philosopher's Stone at the age of 13 and starring in one of the biggest franchises on the planet, who can really blame him?