Actor Paapa Essiedu says he’s been threatened because of his role in the upcoming “Harry Potter” reboot.
Just as it has been for many Black actors who have stepped into the role of an iconic character previously portrayed as white, the news that Essiedu would take on the role of Professor Severus Snape in the new “Harry Potter” series has not come without a wave of racist backlash toward the 35-year-old Ghanaian-British actor.
“I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’” Essiedu told The Sunday Times of London.
He continued, “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.”
In the original “Harry Potter” films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Professor Snape was played by the late actor Alan Rickman, who died in 2016. More than a decade after the last film wrapped, Warner Bros. Discovery announced in 2023 that it was rebooting “Harry Potter” in the form of a TV series. HBO is producing the show, which is based on all seven books in the series written by author J.K. Rowling. The series is set to release in 2027.
In 2025, the all-new cast for the new series was announced, including Essiedu as Professor Snape, John Lithgow as Dumbledore, and Dominic McLaughlin in the titular role of Harry Potter. Similarly to when Halle Bailey became the new Ariel in the “Little Mermaid” reboot, or when Idris Elba simply expressed interest in playing James Bond, there was a wave of online racial abuse over the idea that a Black person would be playing a white fictional character.
In the new interview, Essiedu said he was motivated by the online hate and the opportunity to represent kids who look like him in the lionized franchise.
“But the abuse fuels me,” he said. “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.”
