Harry Potter Star Paapa Essiedu Breaks Silence On Snape Casting Backlash

Let me get one thing out of the way here. While many people understandably disagree with the views espoused by original "Harry Potter" author Joanne "J.K." Rowling — and I'll circle back to those — I think we need to draw some lines in the sand about how to treat the cast of the forthcoming "Harry Potter" series being made for HBO. As far as the adult actors are concerned, we can and should ask them tough questions. What we should not do is threaten them. Sadly, British actor and "Black Mirror" standout Paapa Essiedu has been enduring some truly reprehensible comments about his role in the series as Potions master Severus Snape, and some of these comments are just straight-up racist.

Speaking to The Times UK, Essiedu admitted that some so-called "fans" of the "Harry Potter" franchise have said genuinely horrifying things to him, a Black man playing a role originated by the late Alan Rickman. "I've been told, 'Quit or I'll murder you,'" he told Jonathan Dean. As Essiedu quite reasonably said about the outright abusive comments he's endured:

"It really matters. 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.' So while I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be murdered ... That could age badly! But, yes, while I hope I'll be OK, 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."

Again, this is deeply unfair to Essiedu, and a lot of this seems rooted in outright bigotry. So how is Essiedu dealing with it?

At the end of the day, playing anti-hero Severus Snape — a man who seems blatantly evil until we learn his full and tragic backstory — is an amazing opportunity for Paapa Essiedu. Though the actor has appeared in, again, "Black Mirror" and the HBO series "I May Destroy You," this is his biggest role to date, and he told Jonathan Dean that horrible comments about him playing Snape just reinforce his drive.

"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," Essiedu said of his time reading the "Harry Potter" books. Elsewhere in the interview, he said he spent a lot of time reading the novels at a local library when his mother had trouble affording a babysitter. 

"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."

In fact, Essiedu seemed a little more intimidated by the fact that this project could run for a whopping ten years, since the intention is to devote one season to each of the seven books. "I'll be 45 by the time I finish and I know my life is going to change in a big way, but I have to just surrender to that," he mused. Still, there's an elephant in the room here that Essiedu didn't address.

Around 2020, something ... interesting happened with Joanne "J.K." Rowling. The writer, known for both the "Harry Potter" books and a series of detective novels that she writes under the pen name Robert Galbraith, started posting on social media about her views on the transgender community, specifically targeting trans women. Rowling presents herself as a feminist looking out for the rights of biological women, but in reality, the comments that Rowling is leveling against transgender women are just as vile as the comments people are making to Paapa Essiedu. Despite backlash, Rowling has not backed down; quite the opposite, in fact. In May 2025, she went so far as to establish a legal fund that is meant to directly work against rights for transgender women — again, under the guise of protecting cisgender women. 

Several of the stars of the original film franchise have spoken out against Rowling in the years since they appeared Iin the movies, but there's no question that her involvement as an executive producer in the TV show is causing controversy. As someone who abhors Rowling's current views (and whom she inexplicably blocked on X) but who also has a years-old "Harry Potter" tattoo, I do wish that, on some level, Essiedu had addressed this. On the other hand, I also understand the pressure he's facing is quite pressing ... and incredibly cruel. 

We'll get to see Essiedu's performance as Severus Snape when the "Harry Potter" series premieres on HBO in 2027, so trolls can go ahead and knock it off until then ... or just stop bothering Essiedu entirely.