Harry Potter star Oliver Masucci has told how he punched his dad to the ground after he refused to take another beating.
Masucci, 54, played head wizard Anton Vogel in the Potter spin-off series Fantastic Beasts.
But the German star shocked fans when revealed how his father used to beat him when he was a child.
Masucci was promoting his new autobiography ‘Traeumertanzer’, or ‘Dreamer Dancer’ at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
He told Germany’s Bild newspaper that his dad Pino, now 76, was a harsh disciplinarian as he was growing up and dished out regular beatings for bad behaviour.
But it stopped when Masucci turned the tables on him aged 21 and decked him with a single punch.
He said: “It was like Tom and Jerry. It was a game. One runs after the other.
“At some point, he couldn’t catch me anymore because I was faster.
“What was completely unplanned was that at some point I just stopped “
He explained: “He asked me why I stopped.
“I said, ‘Because I’m stronger than you, and bigger now, and I only run away out of respect.’
“He wanted proof. I hit him on the jaw and then he fell over.”
Masucci says he now understands why his father seemed so tough on him.
He said: “Sure, I irritated my father to the point of collapse.
“He gave me a very good target, he was overwhelmed with my upbringing, with the German language, with the attempt to dominate me, and he was working hard the whole time.”
But he revealed there is no bad blood between him and his dad.
He said: “I am not a victim. I was able to reflect on all of this for myself. And I love my father.
“He is a family man, like me. Yes, he is a patriarch. But it wasn’t easy either.
“He was bullied by my grandmother, she rebelled against him all her life because he was Italian.
“When she was unwell and had a stroke, he was the one who held her hand until she died.
“We overcame the racism within the family by cooking together, with German roulades and Italian involtini.”
Despite having no contact with his dad today, Masucci added: “But he likes the book and I believe in forgiveness. This is important in every family.”
Masucci is famed for his role in the Fantastic Beasts franchise and for playing Adolf Hitler in the 2015 comedy ‘Look Who’s Back’ and Ulrich Nielsen in the Netflix series ‘Dark’.
