He is the leading candidate for one of the roles in the series and his possible selection is generating debate.
THR reports that Paapa Essiedu has reportedly been offered the role of Severus Snape in the series, a character that was played by the late, legendary Alan Rickman in all eight films.
The actor is best known for his roles in I May Destroy You and Gangs of London , and this would be a great opportunity to raise his profile by taking on one of the key roles in a series that is likely to last for more than a decade.
HBO issued this statement to THR regarding the report:
«We appreciate that such a high-profile series will generate a lot of rumour and speculation. While we are moving forward with pre-production, we will only confirm details when we finalise agreements,» he said.
Well, that’s not a no.
Unsurprisingly, the mention of Essiedu as a possible choice sparked controversy, given that Snape, in both the books and films, was portrayed as white, and Essiedu is black. The debate is that his race should be «true» to the books, while the opposing argument holds that Snape’s race has no bearing on his character, so it shouldn’t matter.
The potential casting of Essiedu or another black actor would reaffirm HBO’s previous statement that the series would have a more diverse cast than the books, which featured a large majority of white characters, resulting in a majority of white actors in the films, with characters of color relegated mostly to minor roles.
Most notably, to counter this, JK Rowling made something of a retroactive change following the publication of the books and films, when she said that Hermione could be black, as her race was never specified. This was brought to fruition when actress Noma Dumezweni played the role in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , which of course led to a strong backlash. However, it seems almost certain that Hermione will be played by a young actress of colour in this remake to ensure that the three main characters are not all white this time around.
As for other casting news, so far we have the following:
- An open casting call has been put out for the roles of Harry , Hermione , and Ron , although no actors have yet been mentioned for those roles.
- Jared Harris has said he does not want to play Dumbledore , a role that was played by his father, the late Richard Harris .
- Just yesterday, Ralph Fiennes mentioned that he would love for Cillian Murphy to take on his role as Voldemort in the series. There is no indication that this is in the works, nor has Murphy said anything about it so far.
This is going to be a long, long road filled with controversy. Hang on.
