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On April 14, HBO announced six actors for the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.
We already knew that John Lithgow (Dexter) would be taking on Hogwarts headmaster duties as Albus Dumbledore, but we now know he’ll be joined by Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) as Transfiguration teacher Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu (Gangs of London) as Potions teacher Severus Snape, Luke Thallon (Rupert Goold’s Patriots) as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Quirinus Quirrell, Paul Whitehouse (The Fast Show) as Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch, and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz) as Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid.
While half those names had already been in talks to appear, this news has still come as a huge surprise to Harry Potter fans. But not all of them have taken kindly to the announcement, especially where actors Paapa Essiedu and Nick Frost are concerned.
Credit: Warner Bros.
Frost, 53, best known for roles in British comedy films like Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007), took to Instagram following HBO’s announcement to share his excitement while paying tribute to previous Hagrid actor Robbie Coltrane, who died in 2022.
In the post, Frost, smiling, is holding up a copy of JK Rowling’s debut novel “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”–which the first season of the upcoming TV series will be based on (there will be seven seasons altogether, one for each of Rowling’s books).
“You’re a wizard, Harry!!!” Frost wrote in the caption. “Thank you for trusting me with such a loyal, gentle and courageous half-giant like Rubeus Hagrid.” Paying tribute to the late Robbie Coltrane, he added, “Robbie, I promise I won’t let you down.”
Credit: Rogue Pictures (North America) Universal Pictures (International, through United International Pictures)
Related: ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series: Warner Bros. Shares Harry, Ron, and Hermione Casting News
However, though many are praising the decision to cast the Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2024) actor (we even fan-cast him a year ago), some have taken issue with Frost’s casting, calling out his decision to work on a project with Rowling, who has been labeled a “TERF” (“trans-exclusionary radical feminist”) and “transphobic” as the result of comments she has made on social media and elsewhere regarding her gender-critical views in recent years.
Seemingly as the result of the backlash, Frost has now disabled the comments on his Instagram post. But that hasn’t stopped those fans from responding via his other posts.
One user wrote: “Nick, I thought you were better than this. You shouldn’t be part of this hateful woman’s rehash. This story didn’t need to be told again.”
Another said: “Have to say, I agree with pretty much everyone else in this thread. Working on a JK Rowling project given her routine assaults on the LGBTQA+ community is appalling and you should know better. Extremely disappointed in you.”
Credit: Warner Bros.
Related: ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series: Everything We Know About the Reboot Nobody Asked For
The comments continue in this vein:
“I’m very sad that you chose to work for someone like Rowling that takes so much effort in making innocent peoples’ lives miserable. You always where an artist I highly admired. Please think again if you want to get involved with that woman, you might lose a lot of fans with that decision.”
Perhaps one of the most powerful reads: “The fact you’ve turned comments off on the previous post shows you know exactly why taking that role is a poor decision. You’ve lost the respect of millions, and I’m so disappointed in one of my favourite actors of all time.”
Paapa Essiedu, who has been cast as Severus Snape, played by the late Alan Rickman in the Harry Potter films, has also broken his silence on Instagram following the casting news.
Beneath a collage of himself with his fellow cast members, Lithgow, McTeer, Thallon, Whitehouse, and Frost, the Black Mirror actor writes: “An honour and a privilege to be going on this journey with these legends. We shall eat and we shall leave no crumbs. See you at Hogwarts. Professor Snape x.”
Fans are flooding Essiedu’s comments section with praise, however, elsewhere online, mainly X (formerly Twitter), many have accused HBO and Warner Bros. of “race-swapping” the character of Snape and, as such, have accused the upcoming series of being “woke”.
Credit: Warner Bros.
