The star will feature as a voice in the new audiobook series
Keira will be taking on the role of Umbridge(Image: PA)
Keira Knightley admitted that she was “not aware” of the controversy surrounding Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
The 40-year-old actress will be taking on the role of Professor Umbridge for Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, and will be joined by other stars like James McAvoy and Kit Harington.
After Keira’s casting was made public, fans took to social media to voice their concerns over JK Rowling’s stance on the transgender community.
The author has been well-documented in supporting “single sex spaces”, along with other claims where she said she would “‘happily’ go to jail for misgendering a trans person”.
Despite the backlash, Keira shared that she was unaware of this, and issued an apology to fans.
When asked about it all by Decider, she answered: “I was not aware of that, no. I’m very sorry,
“You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we?
“And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect,” she concluded.
JK Rowling has come under fire for her views(Image: PA)
The audiobook series was announced earlier this year, and features a star-studded cast including Hugh Laurie as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Matthew Macfadyen as the antagonist Lord Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Professor Snape, Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall, and Cush Jumbo as the narrator.
Daniel Radcliffe who took on the role of Harry Potter in the original movie series, has come out in support of the transgender community over the last few years.
In a 2020 statement released by The Trevor Project, he wrote: “Transgender women are women.”
Although he acknowledged that Rowling was “unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken”, he admitted that he “felt compelled to say something”.