J.K. Rowling Reveals If She’d ‘Fire’ Harry Potter Show’s Snape Actor Paapa Essiedu After His Trans Rights Support

The actor, 34, was one of more than 400 actors who signed an open letter condemning the U.K. Supreme Court for their latest ruling on transgender women and men

(L) J. K. Rowling and Paapa Essiedu.Credit : Luke Walker/Getty; Kate Green/Getty

Does J.K. Rowling have the power to remove Paapa Essiedu from HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series? She says no.

The actor, 34, who has been cast as Severus Snape, was one of more than 400 actors who signed an open letter condemning the U.K. Supreme Court for ruling that transgender women and men are not legally considered women and men.

Shortly after, the franchise author, 59, who has been vocal about her controversial views on the subject, addressed speculation that Essiedu’s views on transgender rights would affect his casting in the highly anticipated series adaptation in a statement shared to X on May 5.

Paapa Essiedu.Dave Benett/Getty
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“I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did,” she wrote alongside an article about Essiedu. “I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.”

Over the years, Rowling hasn’t been shy about sharing her views on transgender people. In 2020, the author shared a 3,600-word essay that has been widely condemned as transphobic.

At the time, Rowling wrote that as an advocate for women’s and children’s rights, “I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”
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JK Rowling.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty
Stating that she’s a survivor of sexual assault and domestic abuse, she added, “So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman…then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”

Several stars in the original Harry Potter franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, eventually spoke out in support of transgender rights, making it clear they had different views. Then in April 2024, Rowling addressed their comments and wrote on social media that Radcliffe, Watson and Grint could “save their apologies” for their public statements against her and her views.
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The same month, Radcliffe admitted that he hasn’t spoken to Rowling in years and her controversial statements on gender made him “really sad.”

“Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person,” he told The Atlantic at the time. “But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”

A release date for HBO’s Harry Potter series has yet to be released, but the network has announced casting decisions for the supporting cast.

In addition to Essiedu, John Lithgow has been cast as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Professor Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.