Harry Potter actor Paapa Essiedu has said he’s received race-fuelled death threats following his casting as Professor Snape in the forthcoming HBO Max adaptation of the much-loved JK Rowling series.
The 35-year-old actor was announced to have been cast in the production last April, with uproar from critics claiming that he couldn’t play the fictional potions professor because he was written as white.
“I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’” Essiedu told The Times. “The reality is that if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you,’” the star added of the online abuse.
Although the actor added that he’s “pretty sure” he’s not going to be murdered — a comment he caveated could “age badly” — he maintained that “nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job”.
“Many people put their lives on the line in their work. I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter. And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally,” he said.
“But the abuse fuels me. And makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid. I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That’s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they’d rather I died instead of doing work I’m going to be really proud of.”
Essiedu hasn’t reported any of the death threats to authorities. “I don’t think some 17-year-old boy being put in jail for two weeks for threatening to murder me would actually make me feel any better,” he explained.
Shortly after Essiedu’s casting was announced, the actor was among the hundreds of TV and film professionals who signed a letter calling for industry action on trans rights.
In the last six years, JK Rowling has repeatedly come under fire for various comments about gender, with many, including stars of the Potter film adaptations, accusing her of transphobia.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
After Essiedu’s appearance as a signatory on the letter, an “insider” told MailOnline that Rowling would “not be bothered one iota by Essiedu’s decision – and wouldn’t dream of intervening to get him sacked, despite being heavily involved in the project”.
Addressing this report X/Twitter, Rowling wrote: “I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did. I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.”
The Harry Potter series is being filmed now and will premiere in 2027.
Essiedu has signed onto the series for ten years and told The Times it was a “big commitment.” “I’ll be 45 by the time I finish,” he said, “and I know my life is going to change in a big way, but I have to just surrender to that. I could have children by the end of this.”
