{"id":613737,"date":"2026-09-12T10:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613737\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T10:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:24:15","slug":"harry-potter-tv-series-star-johnny-flynn-reveals-why-he-took-lucius-malfoy-role-and-how-he-differs-to-jason-isaacs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613737\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Potter TV series star Johnny Flynn reveals why he took Lucius Malfoy role and how he differs to Jason Isaacs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny Flynn has opened up about why he took on a role in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.<\/a><\/p>\n

The actor is set to play Lucius Malfoy<\/a> in HBO\u2019s new adaptation of JK Rowling\u2019s novels \u2013 a role previously played in the films by Jason Isaacs. <\/p>\n

Several cast members have received backlash for accepting roles in the show, due to its association with Rowling, who has faced backlash in some quarters due to her views on transgender rights.<\/p>\n

Asked about the topic in a new interview with Radio Times<\/a>, Flynn said: \u201cOf course I have feelings about that, but I want to talk about the gratitude I feel at being able to do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actor added that he took on the role to please his children, and because of his love of the books. <\/p>\n

\u201cI came into it from the perspective of being a fan. I was around 10 or 11 when the first book came out. By the time the last was published I was graduating from drama school and hiding it behind a book of poetry to look cool.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Dominic<\/p>\n

Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter in HBO’s Harry Potter\u00a0HBO<\/p>\n

Speaking about Malfoy, he added. \u201cHe was one of those kids bullied in his school, and he\u2019s now turned into the bully, so he doesn\u2019t know another way. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how I want to play him, because I know those people quite well. On the one hand, they were the people that bullied me, they were the abusers, but at some point, they were the abused. So, nobody\u2019s outright good or bad in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2020, Rowling published a lengthy statement detailing her stance on sex and gender debates \u2013 the essay was criticised and disputed by LGBTQ+ charities including Stonewall.<\/p>\n

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Rowling has also shared her views on social media, including in a 2024 post on X (formerly Twitter), in which she insisted that \u201cthere are no trans kids\u201d and opposed the idea that a child can be \u201cborn in the wrong body\u201d. <\/p>\n

In May 2025, Rowling set up the JK Rowling Women\u2019s Fund, which describes itself as offering legal funding support to \u201cindividuals and organisations fighting to retain women\u2019s sex-based rights\u201d. <\/p>\n

Harry Potter actors including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, have distanced themselves from Rowling’s views and have issued statements supporting the transgender community. Others, including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Jim Broadbent, have defended the author from the criticism she has received. <\/p>\n

The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday \u2013 subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"1-SE-39-0-Cover\"<\/p>\n

Harry Potter will be available to watch on HBO Max from 25 December 2026.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Fantasy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johnny Flynn has opened up about why he took on a role in the upcoming Harry Potter TV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-613737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}