Who played Tom Riddle?

You may also know Tom Riddle as the dark lord, ‘He-who-must-not-be-named’, ‘The heir of Slytherin’, or ‘You-know-who’. Voldemort is the perfect antagonist for the Harry Potter films and books, and his character is the manifestation of all that is wrong in the world. So the question “who played Tom Riddle?” evolves to “how to describe Tom Riddle?”

A dark and twisted man. Anyone can say that after all the dark magic he practised to seek is power. He is devoid of emotions, unable to feel empathy for anyone, even his close companions. And will stop at nothing in his rise to power. Throughout the books and films, we see Voldemort’s character development grow and grow and where he starts as just the name he slowly becomes the dark and evil wizard played by Ralph Fiennes that we see on screen. 

After a devastating loss to the potters, Voldemort found himself without a physical form. And for the earlier films finds himself piecing his body back together. But what a lot of people don’t know or simply haven’t noticed is that Voldemort wasn’t always portrayed by Ralph Fiennes. In fact, Fiennes wasn’t in the film adaptations of Harry Potter at all, until The Goblet of Fire, four years after the first film came out. 

This poses the questions. Who player Voldemort before him? Voldemort was in the films before then, wasn’t he? Voldemort’s character is so important and casting him must have been supremely difficult. They would need to effectively portray sociopathic tendencies with an element of charm.  

First appearances 

We first see Voldemort in the philosophy stone. We’re brought back to the year 1981, where a cloaked figure enters the gate of the Potter residence and Godrick’s Hollow. 

Then, later on in the same film, we showed a horrible cloaked figure feasting on unicorn blood in the forbidden forest. And finally, towards the end of the film, we see a face. A face that just so happened to be on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head. “Harry Potter, we meet again”, he says as Quirrel unravels his turban. 

Richard Bremmer 

This face of course belongs to the very first Voldemort: Richard Bremmer. Bremmer was responsible for acting out the beginning scene at Godrick’s Hollow, as well as, the scene where his face was exposed. Bremmer is a British Actor from Warwickshire, England and had a long-acting resume before taking on the role of Voldemort. While Bremmer did an amazing job with his limited exposure in the role, he was eventually replaced by the actor Ralph Fiennes. 

Even though Bremmen did a great job when the time came for Voldemort to make a resurgence in The Goblet of Fire, Warner Brothers opted for a more famous actor. Fiennes who replaced Bremmer was widely recognized at this time and had an Oscar nomination under his belt. Harry Potter had grown a lot since Bremmer played the role, and it just made sense. 

Bremmer was an exceptionally good sport about being replaced and had this to say: “The producer spent a long time fighting to get me, so I’m very proud to have been the first but the role has now been played by Ralph Fiennes, who is an old mate. I’ve been in the business a long time and didn’t surprise me they just went for a bigger name. I’m happy to pass it on to Ralph.” 

Christian Coulson 

The next version of Voldemort that we see on the screen is in the Chamber of Secrets where we see Christian Coulson playing a 16-year-old Tom Riddle. Coulson is a British actor who was born in Manchester, England and had a fair bit of acting experience under his belt before taking on the role. 

Unlike Bremmer, Coulson had the honour of having more of a physical presence on screen, complete with his own body. Coulson played the role of Voldemort in the past, a younger version of himself. And so, for this reason, they needed to bring in another actor. Bremmer was simply too old to play the role of young Tom Riddle, and so Coulson was cast. He was 23 himself but was convincing enough.  

Coulson was more dynamic in that he was able to more convincingly play both sides of all the most character. He, who played Tom Riddle, could convincingly portray the good nature of Voldemort while the teachers were around but also had no difficulty playing the more evil side of him. 

Ralph Fiennes 

The next version of Voldemort what we see on screen belongs to none other than Ralph Fiennes, who assumes the role of the present timeline Voldemort that we all know, and… love? Interestingly enough Fiennes was reluctant to take on the role at first and said the following in an interview: 

“The truth is I was actually ignorant about the films and the books. I was approached by the production Mike Newell was directing the film that they wanted me to be in. The first time Voldemort was going to appear physically. Out of ignorance, I just sort of thought: “This isn’t for me”. Quite stupidly, I resisted, I was hesitant. I think the clincher was that my sister Martha, who has three children who are then probably about 12, 10 and 8. She said: “What do you mean? You’ve got to do it!”. So, then I rewound my thinking.” Fortunately for all of us, Fiennes sister Martha knocked some sense into him, and let him to the conclusion of being who played Tom Riddle. Probably Martha’s children found the Harry Potter books here.

His performance of Voldemort from The Half-Blood Prince onward was spectacular. It’s obvious that he put his heart and soul into the role. He made it entirely his own and for good reason, Fiennes is the definitive image of Voldemort and most fans minds.  

Hero Fiennes Tiffin 

Next up came Hero Fiennes Tiffin, who played the 11-year-old version of Voldemort at Wool’s orphanage in London. Tiffin was an important part of The Half-Blood Prince film adaptation as he gave us all a glimpse of what the Dark Lord was like as a child. Fiennes Tiffin, as you might be able to guess by the name, is related to actor Ralph Fiennes. Is Fiennes’ nephew, who played Tom Riddle then! 

Tiffin is an exceptional job at portraying the young wizard and nails the creepy but innocent representation of Voldemort the filmmakers were going for. This was a boy who knew that he was different but didn’t yet know what he was and what his destiny was. 

Frank Dillane 

At the same time as Tiffin, Frank Dillane was cast in the role of Voldemort, or at least a young Tom Riddle. Dillane was an integral part of the film as he was the representative of Riddle’s character in the flashbacks of him at age 16. By the time The Half-Blood Prince came out, Coulson would have been just a little bit too old to play 16-year-old again, which is why they cast Dillane.  

In the present timeline, Voldemort was showcased by Bremmer and later to Fiennes. The 16-year-old Voldemort was showcased by Coulson and later Dillane. And the 11-year-old Voldemort was showcased by Tiffin. Tell us which of these actors you think best represented the Dark Lord. Or in case you hated the performance of any of them, which actor would you suggest?