James Arthur reveals how he landed Harry Potter's Tom Felton for the 'Empty Space' music video
He called it an "honour"
James Arthur gave an absolutely amazing performance over the weekend in Manchester. The former X Factor winner performed in a line-up with Little Mix, Ellie Goulding, Cheryl, The Vamps, Mabel, Rak-Su, and James Hype, singing all his biggest hits.
Before taking to the stage, the 30-year-old opened up to our very own Sarah-Jane Crawford about how things have been going for him recently - even speaking out about his recent cover of 'Rewrite The Stars' featuring Anne-Marie for The Greatest Showman Reimagined album.
But James also spoke out about his recent music video for new single 'Empty Space', and revealed how he managed to wangle Harry Potter actor Tom Felton to star in the video.
James told Sarah-Jane, "We wanted to have a big star in the video. I was in Brazil doing a soap opera which was a good opportunity for me to be viewed by 50 million people. I was singing, I wasn't acting.
"I moodily walked to the chair, sang a song and then bounced. It was cool. 50 million people watch it, so it was either that or I be in the music video, so I thought we'll just get someone who's amazing at acting to do it."
Swipe through to see what the Harry Potter child stars look like now
Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe
The last Harry Potter film was released in 2011. Here's what the main cast of children look like all grown up!
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe had already starred in David Copperfield when he was cast as the most famous boy in the UK, Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe
Since Harry Potter ended, Daniel has starred in a number of stage productions and films including The Woman In Black, Swiss Army Man and David Copperfield. He starred in the biographical parody film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story in 2022.
Rupert Grint
Rupert had only starred in school plays when he was cast as Harry Potter's best friend Ron Weasley.
Rupert Grint
Rupert has starred in a number of films and TV shows since, with the actor playing the role of Jullian Pearce in TV show Servant, as well as appearing in Snatch, the ABC murders and Sick Note. He will appear in horror film Knock at the Cabin in 2023.
In 2011, Rupert also appeared in Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' music video!
Tom Felton
Tom was cast as Harry's school nemesis Draco Malfoy. He had already starred in a number of commercials and the film 'The Borrowers'.
Tom Felton
Tom has appeared in a number of high-profile movies since, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, In Secret and The Forgotten Battle.
He's also shown off his singing voice, and has posted a number of videos to Instagram of him playing guitar.
Emma Watson
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 was Emma's debut screen performance.
Emma Watson
Emma has starred in a number of films and took on the role of Belle in the live-action version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 2017. She has since appeared in Little Women and The Circle.
She is also a huge advocate for women's rights and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015.
Matthew Lewis
Matthew Lewis starred as Neville Longbottom, who ended up being one of heroes of the story.
Matthew Lewis
The term 'Longbottoming' was coined to describe people who became extremely attractive when they grew up after Matthew Lewis turned into a hunk!
Since leaving Harry Potter, Matthew has appearing in a number of TV shows including 2016 series Happy Valley.
He went on, "Thankfully, we had a contact at management who knew Tom Felton and he was kind enough to do it for us. It was a massive honour. I wanted to do the acting but thank god he did it because he's much better."
When Sarah-Jane then quizzed him over his ambitions, he gushed that he'd love to do a bit of acting in the future, "I do, I really do, it's not a secret. Who knows!"
The X Factor’s 2012 winner James Arthur has come a long way since the show. Releasing two albums and countless songs, his Number 1 hits include ‘Impossible’ and ‘Say You Won't Let Go’. James has also recently teamed up with Anne-Marie for a fantastic cover of ‘Rewrite The Stars’ from the film The Greatest Showman.
You can hear James Arthur's biggest hits on the Downtown Radio playlist.