{"id":739374,"date":"2026-08-16T01:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T01:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/739374\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T01:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T01:24:15","slug":"at-least-some-people-have-turned-down-hbos-harry-potter-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/739374\/","title":{"rendered":"At least some people have turned down HBO’s Harry Potter series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much has been made\u2014and much more likely will be made\u2014about the people who have gone on the record denouncing J.K. Rowling\u2019s beliefs on trans people<\/a> while also performing in a project that stands to greatly enrich her. And hey, we\u2019re sure those people are also being paid pretty well while they perform this cognitive dissonance. But believe it or not, there are people in Hollywood who have said no to this particular paycheck and at least one of them says \u201cYou can do it too!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday, TV director Ally Pankiw, who has worked on shows like Black Mirror and The Great and wrote and directed the film I Used To Be Funny, posted screenshots of a text exchange that Variety attributes<\/a> to the director and a WME agent. \u201cI have an instinct on the answer but I feel compelled to ask Harry Potter? Hard no?\u201d reads one text message posted to Instagram<\/a>, to which Pankiw responds, \u201cAbsolutely fucking not! lol (But thank you for asking)\u201d. The rep responds: \u201cOf course \ud83d\ude42 I assumed as much (And agree)\u201d. In the caption, Pankiw wrote, \u201cIt simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia! (Also this was for directing, not acting\u2026 obviously lol)\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the comments of her post, Loki director Kate Herron wrote, \u201cYeah thank you exactly! Respect and love to you Ally. They\u2019ve asked me twice and I\u2019ve had to explain my answer is never gonna change from a no.\u201d (Also in the comments: Patti Harrison claiming to be playing Rita Skeeter in the series.) In her story, Pankiw praised Herron for saying no twice, writing, \u201cAnd that\u2019s actually hard!\u201d It\u2019s certainly got to be harder than taking and defending the paycheck<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n