Paapa Essiedu signed a letter supporting trans rights shortly after being cast as Severus Snape in HBO’s Harry Potter series. Now, the 36-year-old actor says taking the role means staying consistent about his beliefs while declining to speak for J.K. Rowling.
“I’m not really here to speak about Jo’s politics or to be a mouthpiece for her,” he said. “I can only be really, really clear about what I believe and be consistent with that.”
Essiedu said trans people, queer people and people of every creed and colour deserve respect, dignity and safety at work, at home and in public. “That’s what I believe, and that’s the way that I choose to live my life. That’s the creed by which I live.” He also said he wanted to avoid a “them and us” dynamic with Rowling.
The letter he signed had more than 400 well-known signatories and called on the UK’s entertainment industry to protect transgender, non-binary and intersex people following the Supreme Court’s ruling defining a woman by biological sex.
When an article raised the possibility that Rowling might have Essiedu removed from the adaptation, she responded on X: “I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series, and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did.”
Rowling added: “I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.”
For Essiedu, the story’s themes help explain his decision to participate: forgiveness, good overcoming evil and accepting people as they are.
The I May Destroy You actor has previously spoken about racist abuse over his casting, but he said encouragement has also shaped his experience: “I got a lot of love as well. That really fuels me as much as the hate.”