Paapa Essiedu Says He's Faced Death Threats Over 'Harry Potter'
Paapa Essiedu Says He’s Faced Death Threats Over ‘Harry Potter’ Role, Social Media Disgusted
When British actor Paapa Essiedu was cast in the new HBO Harry Potter series, he was excited about playing the role of Professor Severus Snape. Originated by the late actor Alan Rickman, the character is central to the Potter universe.
But Essiedu’s dream role turned nightmarish when online trolls targeted him, angered by the color-blind casting.
He told The Times of London that trolls left him messages that included death threats, forcing him to limit Instagram comments when he announced he was joining the cast.
“It really matters,” Essiedu said of the bullying and trolling. “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…”
He continued, “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.”
The 35-year-old actor is committed to the role for ten years. The HBO TV adaptation will run for seven seasons, one for each book, starting early in 2027. Newcomer Dominic McLaughlin was cast as Harry Potter and John Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore, along with Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout playing Ron Weasley. All were selected after a lengthy search that reportedly involved casting directors poring through 32,000 tapes to find the new Harry Potter.
Essiedu is well known in the United Kingdom for various TV and movie roles, including his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but is likely most recognizable to American audiences as Kwame in Michaela Coles’ 2020 series I May Destroy You. That’s likely to change when Potter hits the airwaves.
It’s the best-selling book series in history, written by British writer J.K. Rowling, who went from a single mother on welfare to a billionaire. She said she first came up with the characters during a train ride. The seven books were made into eight movies, generating over $30 billion dollars in movies, merchandise and theme park rides.
While Essiedu understands the passion behind the series’ fans and the novelty of his casting, he says he doesn’t want that to overshadow his role.
“…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 says he’s dealt with racism before as a poor kid on scholarship to a fancy British school.
“At my school (The Forest School in East London) racism, misogyny, homophobia were rife,” Essiedu says. “I don’t know if it was specific to my school, because in a dog-eat-dog world, teenagers will say anything to survive, but, to be honest, kids are often just a reflection of the society they’re growing up in.”
So while he hasn’t reported the racism (“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 does believe that the Potter series was a good choice at this stage in his career, beyond the money, stability and the recognition the role provides.
“…The themes that run through Harry Potter are of love triumphing over hate — of acceptance,” Essiedu says. “And that’s why I’m doing it.”
See social media’s reaction to the threats below.
