{"id":358716,"date":"2026-03-22T02:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/358716\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T02:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:37:09","slug":"paapa-essiedu-says-harry-potter-snape-casting-led-to-racist-death-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/358716\/","title":{"rendered":"Paapa Essiedu Says Harry Potter Snape Casting Led to Racist Death Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPaapa Essiedu<\/a> has revealed he\u2019s faced racist death threats after being cast as Professor Severus Snape in HBO<\/a>\u2018s upcoming Harry Potty television series. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been told, \u2018Quit or I\u2019ll murder you,\u2019\u201d the actor told The Times<\/a> in a profile published Saturday. <\/p>\n

\n\tEssiedu said after his casting was officially announced in April 2025, he faced backlash for being a Black actor stepping into the role of Snape.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt really matters. The reality is that if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to come to your house and kill you.\u2019 So while I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m not going to be murdered\u2026 That could age badly! But, yes, while I hope I\u2019ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job,\u201d he said. \u201cMany people put their lives on the line in their work. I\u2019m playing a wizard in\u00a0Harry Potter<\/a>. And I\u2019d be lying if I said it doesn\u2019t affect me emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe role of Snape was originated by Alan Rickman in 2001\u2019s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone. He went on to portray the wizard throughout its eight-film run. <\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, the I May Destroy You star added that \u201cthe abuse fuels me\u201d and \u201cmakes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That\u2019s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they\u2019d rather I died instead of doing work I\u2019m going to be really proud of,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked if he could stay offline to avoid negative discourse, Essiedu noted \u201ceven if you successfully ignore it, it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not happening,\u201d continuing, \u201cThe issue remains endemic and, anyway, people see stuff and message to ask if I\u2019m OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Hollywood Reporter previously exclusively reported<\/a> that the Emmy nominee was being eye to play Snape in December 2024. He joins the cast of the HBO Max series<\/a> that will see Dominic McLaughlin step into the titular role; Alastair Stout portray Harry\u2019s best friend Ron Weasley; and Arabella Stanton as Harry\u2019s other dear friend Hermione Granger. <\/p>\n

\n\tAdditional cast members include John Lithgow as Dumbledore; Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall; Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid; and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, among many others. <\/p>\n

\n\tProduction<\/a> on HBO\u2019s Harry Potter series began last July, where it filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, U.K. The plan for the show is to adapt each of J.K. Rowling\u2019s\u00a0novels into a separate season, meaning there will be eight installments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paapa Essiedu has revealed he\u2019s faced racist death threats after being cast as Professor Severus Snape in HBO\u2018s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[93,14293,3284,3286,61,1042,60,270,162456],"class_list":["post-358716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-harry-potter","tag-hbo","tag-hbo-max","tag-ie","tag-international","tag-ireland","tag-movies","tag-paapa-essiedu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}