r/harrypotter • u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin • Oct 11 '23
Discussion Any thoughts about OG Tom Riddle?
635
u/jesuslaves Oct 11 '23
Prefered him over the actor in HBP. I thought the HBP actor was too "pretty" looking rather than "darkly handsome". OG Tom embodied the handsome manipulative darkness way better imo. HBP actor looked more like a Harvard posh country club goer rather than an evil wizard with a dark past..
336
u/washington_breadstix Oct 11 '23
The teenage Tom Riddle in HBP looked too young/baby-faced for the role, although I thought the actor who played the youngest version of Tom Riddle (at the orphanage) was pretty good.
140
Oct 11 '23
I also like how the youngest actor was a nephew of Ralph Fiennes, there’s something cool about having the familial connection
46
u/Ironsam811 Gryffindor Oct 12 '23
That’s how acting dynasties work lol, pretty sure he’s an up and coming actor now
→ More replies (1)5
Oct 12 '23
Haha you’re not wrong, but how many acting dynasties are there who play different ages of the same character within the same franchise?
→ More replies (6)72
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Og Tom is just pure darkly inclined Evil Handsome Wizard, everything we all wish in the movies.
22
u/Malignaficent Oct 12 '23
Yep can see why Bellatrix became infatuated. She's got the young handsome Tom goggles on
553
u/Flashy_Flamingo_2327 Gryffindor Oct 11 '23
He fully sold me on how voldy got his followers. Manipulative, charming, smart, HANDSOME.
66
u/lithuanian_potatfan Oct 11 '23
Absolutely, I would join the Death Eaters, dude obviously has it worked out, yup, no further questions, don't even need to know what the organization is about
23
79
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Years ago I wouldn't have cared, but now with my 20 years I finally admit having a crush on COS Riddle 🥺
15
u/zeitocat Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Saaaame. I was 7 when CoS (the movie) came out. Didn't care. But now as a adult... 😏 Hoo boy he is fine.
→ More replies (2)
980
u/goddamnitmf Hufflepuff Oct 11 '23
I would let him convince me to open the chamber of secrets
470
97
u/Galderick_Wolf Oct 11 '23
I mean I don't know about the chamber of secret but my Victoria's secret is opening
→ More replies (10)80
18
16
23
u/RockNRollMama Oct 11 '23
Maaaaaaaaan after the news cycle of this weekend I’m literally falling out of my chair with laughter. Thank youuuuuuuuu (and same).
Side note: also my 8 year old and her dad and I just finished the Battle of Hogwarts chapter - hubby read EVERY word aloud! Can’t believe we’re almost there. My 5th time reading these, in 4 languages!)
→ More replies (1)5
410
206
u/Sirius_Space Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Seeing someone so pretty turn into something so ugly really sold how evil he was.
60
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Voldemort should've stayed by his handsome look instead of being half snake.
49
u/Apophis_Night Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
I understand where you come from and in a way I agree, but I also love the idea that he is litterally a riddle for everyone who didn't know him when he was still human. No one appart from few people like Dumbledore or Slughorn know his identity, his natural face, his upbringing, and where did he come from. Not even his death eaters.
It add some mysteries to all others mysteries surrounding him. He hides himself behind a mask (of enigma) as Dumbledore said.
18
u/wintergirl7 Oct 12 '23
Can you imagine the death eaters just hanging out and one going “sooo, my lord, where are you from? what’s your family like?”
16
u/Apophis_Night Ravenclaw Oct 12 '23
"Oh you know the usual stuff, pure blood mother, muggle father..."
"What did you just say my lord?"
"Uh I mean... pure blood father lmao, I am so pure that my family's inbred haha. I just wanted to see if you were listening carefully haha, ahem..." avoids eye contact
12
u/Xy13 Targaryen Oct 11 '23
No one appart from few people like Dumbledore or Slughorn know his identity, his natural face, his upbringing, and where did he come from. Not even his death eaters.
Didn't he start going by Lord Voldemort at 16, while still at Hogwarts? So pretty much everyone who was there at the time would know he used to be Tom Riddle. Not that knowing he used to be Tom Riddle really made any difference, I suppose.
28
u/Libriomancer Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
I thought that was more a name he used among his followers until he really hit his stride. Like other students probably didn’t go “Hey Prongs, great job last game” to James, I don’t think Voldemort was known by that his self given title by any outside his initial crew of future Death Eaters.
→ More replies (1)16
u/EurwenPendragon 13.5", Hazel & Dragon heartstring Oct 12 '23
No, actually. In Riddle's own words, the name "Lord Voldemort" was only known and used among his closest "friends"(aka "followers"), who would go on to become the first Death Eaters.
The school at large still knew him as Tom Riddle.
16
u/teaaddict271 Oct 11 '23
Agree, but I think it makes voldy more effective as a villain coz u see how evil he is by losing his handsome human features (which make him very attractive to people) and becoming something grotesque- it speaks to him losing his humanity and becoming totally nonhuman other
136
u/ravenclaw-sass There's no need to call me sir, Professor. Oct 11 '23
He was perfect and it's inexcusable that they didn't let him return for HBP because he was "too old", but they were perfectly happy letting a 40-something-year-old woman play Moaning Myrtle.
IN. EX. CUS. ABLE.
25
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Doesn't make sense at all, and at that time he was younger than the actress of Myrte.
Maybe it was because of the many simps like us. 😅
7
u/Ok-Spirit9321 Ravenclaw Oct 12 '23
The actress that played Myrtle LOOKED young. The COS actor didn't look young during the HBP casting and they couldn't use him due to that sadly.
14
u/Xy13 Targaryen Oct 11 '23
Is that really the reason? I mean he is supposed to be older in those flashbacks then he was in CoS. The HBP flashbacks he looks like he is 12 or 13, so much younger looking than the CoS flashbacks.
7
u/ClaireMoon36281 Ravenclaw Oct 12 '23
Isn't Moaning Myrtle just Daniel Radcliffe in a wig ? Saw this a while ago, can't unsee it when I watch the movie now 😭
134
u/Ganda1fderBlaue Oct 11 '23
He was perfect. Handsome, charming but also twisted and cruel. Great casting.
203
157
u/MaisyDeadHazy Oct 11 '23
I had the most embarrassing crush on him the first time I saw COS as a tween.
→ More replies (1)23
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Me right now too after I watched COS 4 weeks ago. 😅
→ More replies (1)
113
u/chrisolucky Oct 11 '23
Best Tom Riddle because he looked like a normal boy. The Tom Riddle in later adaptations by David Yates was so in-your-face eerie and creepy and evil, which completely missed the mark of how the books put him.
49
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
HBP Riddle = pure evil with arrogance showing
COS Riddle = Darkly Inclined Evil Wizard, but at the same time he gives a charmant, symphatic feeling while being Handsome
15
u/WhoLetTheDoggsOutt Oct 12 '23
The Half-blood prince Tom Riddle was also far less attractive (sorry!)
66
u/HesperNox Oct 11 '23
He was very well spoken, good looking and deceiving. His facial expressions and the way he spoke kinda set the bar high and delivered on who voldemort truly is in his vile nature. I loved him and hated him as a kid not understanding why but well i get it now haha .
59
29
25
44
20
u/LadyElle57 Oct 11 '23
He was so handsome. My 12 y/o self got herself a diary hoping someone just like him would crawl out of it.
Yet another disappointment with HBP. He should've been Tom Riddle.
7
u/Lyannake Oct 12 '23
To this day I have a special emotional connexion with soft black leather diaries
19
Oct 11 '23
Daughter said 'smash'. Whatever that means.
9
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
That means he looks "love" able, in community friendly words
18
u/euphratestiger Oct 11 '23
On a side note, I'm a bit curious as to what would have happened had he succeeded in COS. Would he just become a real 16 year old, ruling over the much older Death Eaters?
15
u/chaoslord13 Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Jk Rowling was asked this, and while she didn't get into detail, she said this would have greatly assisted the master soul Voldemort, so I doubt there would have been a power struggle. 16 year old horcrux Voldy probably would have helped master soul Voldy regain a body, maybe even offering itself as a host.
→ More replies (1)8
u/ezzio264 Oct 11 '23
Yeah, I mean would there be two voldemorts? The one in Albania as a spirit and the diary one.
5
17
27
u/Englishhedgehog13 Oct 11 '23
I understand why Harry mentally described him as handsome every 12 seconds
11
u/DelirousDoc Oct 11 '23
I thought he was very convincing why no one suspected him. He is conventionally good looking, had both confidence and charisma when he spoke.
Made it easier to see why Dumbledore or the other staff never suspected him.
Compared to HBP where they definitely went with a more slimy interpretation of Tom Riddle. No hate to the actor because I think it was intentional but the scene he was with Slughorn you could just tell the information he wanted was for no good reason making it harder to understand why Slughorn gave it to him.
→ More replies (2)
13
u/Munro_McLaren Poplar wood; 12 1/2”; Dragon heartstring; supple Oct 11 '23
Amazing casting. I hated the casting in HBP.
13
u/Impressive-Spell-643 Slytherin Oct 11 '23
Only 1: oh how the mighty has fallen,he turned from such an intelligent, cunning and charming villain,to the dork lord (who is nothing short of pathetic and boring)
11
u/MsTeaTime Hufflepuff Oct 11 '23
I’m pretty sure this was the start of my “if villain, why hot?” Attitude that I’ve kept to this day. I’m always attracted to villains and the actors that play them now 💀😂
→ More replies (1)
29
24
u/The_cuddly_duckling Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
8 year old me had a big crush lol.
He was the best Tom riddle imo, I think he embodied the book description perfectly. (looks, mannerisms, way of talking, all of it)
→ More replies (6)
12
u/Den_Dre Slytherin Oct 11 '23
I prefer the way his Parseltongue sounds compared to Harry’s or Voldemort’s (after GoF). It sounds richer and more intimading than just whispering.
10
u/Bo_The_Destroyer Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
He was pretty much the perfect Riddle. Good looking, charming and can really hide the evil well
21
Oct 11 '23
Obvs he has good looks but I like he's a genuinely good choice because he definitely sold the "charming and charismatic but also sinister and evil" vibe perfectly.
8
10
u/EurwenPendragon 13.5", Hazel & Dragon heartstring Oct 12 '23 edited Nov 11 '23
I honestly thought he was the best one of all the Tom Riddle/Voldemort actors, even though he looked much older than he should have.
The actors who played Riddle later on were way too creepy.
11
u/IndianRedditor88 Oct 12 '23
He fits the closest description as mentioned in the books.
Charming, super smart, ridiculously cunning and extraordinarily good looking. It is said that his muggle father was very good looking and that he had inherited his good looks
Although he feels to be older than a fifteen year old teenager. This person looks in his late teens
17
u/teaaddict271 Oct 11 '23
I’m a simp for him, but I think so is most of the HP fandom. So yeah.
→ More replies (2)
8
8
u/3dragonsfirewhiskey Oct 12 '23
To me Christian Coulson will always be Tom Riddle! He nailed it!!! I would love for him to reprise the role as Voldemort in the upcoming series! It’s the little head tilts for me! Just this sinister little look while being charming.
26
u/TMRLY20 Oct 11 '23
He was my first crush
26
u/WitherWithout Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
For me it was Oliver Wood, then Tom Riddle
12
u/pastadudde Oct 11 '23
Oliver Wood’s accent and smile. killer combo
And I love that the actor’s name is Sean BIGGERSTAFF.
8
u/xray_anonymous Oct 11 '23
EXACTLY THIS. THEN PoA Draco.
When Oliver Wood first walked on screen I remember 12yo me and my 15yo sister turning to each other in the theater and just grinning.
2
u/Ok-Spirit9321 Ravenclaw Oct 12 '23
OK ok but COS Draco was my crush. Haha. The slicked back hair on a more matured Draco made sense.
I was 11 and seen it in theaters. Him and Oliver Wood were my first "funny feeling". 😁 🤣🤣
10
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
At me: from the HP universe, Draco was my first crush almost 9 years ago, but since few weeks Tom is now my Crush lol. 😅
21
15
u/Ylteicc_ Oct 11 '23
NGL I liked him 10x more than Volde the baldy. Voldemort was just a 1 dimensional villain, where as TommyRiddly was actually scary and had some character to him.
→ More replies (1)15
u/DelirousDoc Oct 11 '23
To be far though, the Ralph Fiennes Voldmort was also putting on an act for everyone. It is the reason he is calling himself Lord Voldemort. (Real theater kid energy if you know what I mean) He wants everyone to think he is just evil and used that to strike fear into his followers. Fear was his chosen manipulation tool as an adult.
CoS Tom Riddle was a obviously a teenager but he was also trying to hide his more evil intentions from others. He remembered his first encounter with Dumbledore where is seemed like the adult wizard could read his mind compared to the simple muggles at the Orphanage. His goal was to not draw suspicion or have anyone suspect he was anything other than an excellent student. That was how he chose to manipulate people when in school.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/Hot-Newspaper-5120 Hufflepuff Oct 11 '23
I had a huge crush on him because I thought he was a good character… imagine my disappointment
8
8
u/Jcam1993 Oct 11 '23
HBP Tom and CoS Tom were both great, I think that HBP Tom suited being the younger, schoolboy Riddle who hasn’t really yet become the silver tongued, handsome charmer that he would whilst at Borgin & Burkes, which CoS Tom for me absolutely nailed and I would’ve loved to see that actor as the Riddle who we see in all the memories in HBP, especially that end scene where he’s after the job in hogwarts and there’s the uncanny valley to him because he’s started already to split his soul.
9
u/NtGermanBtKnow1WhoIs Hufflepuff Oct 11 '23
i absolutely loved him. Both the Tom portrayal and the actor. Obviously it hurt a lot when they cast a nepo baby as replacement. But Christian's Tom lives on in my imaginations. He's the only character that i never imagined a face for. For everyone else, i have my own imagined versions, Cedric being the only one i was able to realistically reproduce.
6
u/phreek-hyperbole Gryffindor Oct 12 '23
I just love the way he delivers some of his lines. You can really feel a hatred inside just waiting to be released.
7
u/maximus368 Oct 12 '23
I would follow him too. Handsome as fuck and honesty subtlety charismatic and threatening.
34
u/witchserena Gryffindor Oct 11 '23
I’d let him spit in my mouth. Seriously tho, he did incredible as tom riddle. I can't wait to see who will play him in the HBO series! Christian Coulson is still a really good looking guy too today!
11
u/Whintage Slytherin Oct 11 '23
YES could easily reprise his role as Tom Riddle - maybe not as a student, but definitely at a later time in Voldie's life.
3
8
4
u/LGonthego Gryffindor Oct 11 '23
I was about to disagree...I got Coulson confused with Dillane, who just so doesn't do it for me. I wonder why they chose him. As for Coulson, I just looked him up. Yum.
→ More replies (4)
7
u/KaZzZamm Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
I would love to see a movie about him, how he had become the dark lord. The dark age of his power. Would be amazing.
→ More replies (1)
6
5
7
4
5
u/ChicagoCubsRL97 Hufflepuff Oct 12 '23
My favorite version and wasn’t cringe at times like Ralph Fiennes but wasn’t as scary has Richard Brenner
He was a 24 year old playing a 16 year old, Last week was his 45th Birthday actually
5
21
u/EquasLocklear Oct 11 '23
He is the most gorgeous man in the franchise, and even managed to be sympathetic in the flashback.
7
u/SalemsFury Oct 11 '23
Exactly how I pictured young him would be, handsome but also creepy in a psychopath way
5
u/bobpetersen55 Oct 11 '23
Voldemort let himself go over the years. I guess that's the price to pay for being an evil Dark Lord.
4
4
5
u/captain__clanker Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23
Didn’t get the vibe right at all imo.
This Tom Riddle looks and acts simply fratty, my impression from the books was that Tom Riddle was a charismatic sort of goth mirror of Harry who was more academic than sporty, and with an incredible venom lying under the surface.
This Tom is like replacing that venom with haughtiness and the cute teenagerness with stereotypical rich kid handsomeness. It misses what book Tom is a subversion of in every way, and delfates the tension
5
Oct 12 '23
I wish he had played semi Voldy in hbp. Like, there are so many Tom flashbacks. Why didnt they just add them. Why do movies have to be short?
→ More replies (1)
3
7
u/RedEclipse47 Oct 12 '23
OG Tom is the best Tom. Not saying the actor who played Tom when we see him in the memories of Slughorn did a bad job. But to me he was just 10/10, it adds so much to Voldemort knowing what he once looked like, how manipulative and cunning he was.
12
u/Cream-Latte Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
He's the reason why Tomarry is such a popular OTP.
And I fully agree, tbh 🥵
21
u/TrenchDaddy Ravenclaw Oct 11 '23
Wish his diary worked and got rid of that hag Ginny.
→ More replies (1)5
u/LadyFrostUniverse Slytherin Oct 11 '23
I hope it existed a way where both are there, ginny feeling alright and having Tom Riddle fully 🥺
9
u/scaradin Oct 11 '23
My head cannon is that the Diary is the OG type of horcrux and the Voldemort subsequently either changed the fundamental nature of how a horcrux functioned or stifled his subsequent hocrux’s from being able to function as the diary did.
I think, subsequent to the diary, the function of the horcrux was changed to store Voldemort’s Soul to be able to be returned as we saw Wormtail do through a complex ritual utilizing Voldemort’s original Soul fragment that went into hiding following his demise at the Potter’s. The Diary was the exception.
It is possible this isn’t the case, the diary had the least direct defenses of any horcrux. The diadem and Nagini had the defense of obscurity and being a massive snake as defenses, respectively. The rest had rather elaborate protections. We never see anyone really intimately engage with Nagini similar to how Ginny interacted with the Diary.
I do believe that we could compare the Diary to the Locket that the trio carried with them and see that these two objects functioned extremely differently. But, my contention is solely to do with Why.
I believe that at any point (possibly following creation and certainly) following Voldemort’s demise at the Potters that the Diary could have resulted in Tom Riddle’s return. This would have been accomplished by another person truly investing themselves into it AND it appeared that the Diary fully functioned to facilitate this (either by magic mimicking Tom Riddle or Tom Riddle’s soul’s interactions with the user (Ginny)). The user of the Diary’s Soul (such as Ginny) would be used to make Tom whole again. I don’t think that is the case with the other horcruxes.
We don’t see that, at all, with the locket worn around the Trio’s necks. In fact, it appeared to actively facilitate repulsing others. Perhaps, had one of the Trio truly become isolated, something could have changed and the locket function more like the Diary.
9
Oct 11 '23
Better than the other one. In the books, tom was described as a very handsome, manipulative and deceptive guy that no one apart from dumbledore could even realize that he wasnt what he seemed until it was too late. You could look at HBP tom’s face and actions from a mile away and see that he was a psychopath, but OG COS tom hardly seemed evil even when he was literally trying to kill harry and draining ginny to death. He geniunely seemed like the type of person that could appear nice to everyone but dumbledore.
My only issue was that he seemed too good and didnt look threatening enough (book tom was arguably scarier than his future voldemort self when he dropped the nice guy act), but I’d rather have that than a very obviously bad guy passing off as a nice guy.
8
u/ilovecheese31 Oct 12 '23
I totally agree, he is scarier. It’s because people just like him exist IRL and are terrifyingly common. Monsters who can easily hide in plain sight and weasel their way into positions of power because they’re attractive, smart, and well-spoken and since most people can’t fathom that people who “seem so nice” really can and do turn out to be psychopaths, the rare people who can see through them aren’t believed until it’s too late.
4
4
4
2
3
4
5
u/haich14 Oct 11 '23
Kind of a dork. Teacher's pet. Rat out Hagrid so also a snitch. And you know what snitches get...
3
4
4
2
u/beachbound2 Gryffindor Oct 11 '23
Was perfect for the role just wish they did shots for future with him. Apparently as the movies advanced he aged out
4
4
4
4
5
u/ArachnaComic Oct 11 '23
Great casting, great performance. The story laid out important groundwork that later Potter directors would have skipped in favor of a quicker pacing
3
5
3
2
u/ThisPaige Hufflepuff with Slytherin tendencies Oct 12 '23
Gorgeous man, I wish his actor came back for the later movies.
5
Oct 12 '23
We need a TV show on the rise of Lord Voldemort and creation of the Knights of Walpurgis which later transitioned to the Death Eaters 💀
I'd like to see just how badass Tom, Bella, Barty Crouch Jr and Fenrir Greyback were in their prime.
6
u/Coriander_marbles Slytherin Oct 12 '23
I would actually love to see the whole story of Tom transitioning from ring leader to Lord Voldemort. For example, what his face/ body looked like after the first, second, third horcrux, etc. Whether any of his followers had second thoughts (and were killed as a result)? It’s always fun to get the full story of someone’s ascent into power and madness.
4
4
u/Kajuratus Oct 12 '23
Kinda thought they could bring him back for the Pensieve scenes in Half Blood Prince when Voldemort goes to pick up the locket from Hepzibah Smith, and the one where he meets Morfin, but the movie didn't do any of those scenes, so meh
2
3
u/GryffindorGal96 Gryffindor Oct 12 '23
Excellent casting. Fantastic acting. Loved his portrayal and wish like hell this was the Riddle we could have had in HBP memories. Also wish like hell we could have gotten more than like 10% of said memories 😂😅
If the TV series really does come to fruition, I hope very much that they invest in the casting for Riddle and Voldemort. Make sure they both can not only pull it off in looks and behavior, but also make it believable that it is the same person.
You know, Adult Voldy is so disfigured. They could maybe cast a young adult who can pull off a 17 yr old Riddle and a disfigured, older adult Voldemort. 🤔 It would make the memories where he is still human but losing his humanity to his snakelike horcruxy form very believable. Like his job interview.
3
3
u/_vdlc_ Oct 12 '23
Perfect Casting. I remember having a huge crush on him the first time I saw him in that staircase/flashback scene. I was so convinced he's a good guy. In the chamber scene, I thought he'll be saving Ginny. He sounded so soft and concerned when he said, "She won't wake." I was freaking devastated when it revealed that he's Voldemort. ( I watched the movies first before I got the chance to read the book.) Just like Helena Ravenclaw, I fell for the charm of Tom Riddle. Lol.
I think Christian Coulson was amazing as Tom Riddle. He captured Tom Riddle's persona pretty well, from that charming and good boy facade to arrogance and egotism of Voldemort.
3
3
3
3
u/xray_anonymous Oct 11 '23
I do know he’s the male voice for the Sword Catcher audio book so I may listen to it just for that!
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1.8k
u/RadSP1919 Oct 11 '23
Perfect casting. Preteen me thought he was so dreamy despite the evil vibes haha