Harry Potter Actor Essiedu Addresses Racist Threats Over Snape Casting

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Posted in: HBO, Max, TV | Tagged: harry potter

Harry Potter Actor Essiedu Addresses Racist Threats Over Snape Casting

HBO's Harry Potter star Paapa Essiedu addresses the racist and threatening reactions he's received since being cast as Prof. Severus Snape.

Published Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:37:07 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

  • Paapa Essiedu faces racist abuse after being cast as Severus Snape in HBO's new Harry Potter series.
  • The actor reveals receiving death threats but says the hate strengthens his resolve to redefine Snape.
  • Essiedu is motivated by the chance to provide representation for kids who see themselves at Hogwarts.
  • HBO's Harry Potter series continues production, tackling controversy and expanding the magical universe.

It's not like HBO and showrunner/EP Francesca Gardiner & director/EP Mark Mylod's Dominic McLaughlin (Harry Potter), Arabella Stanton (Hermione Granger), and Alastair Stout (Ron Weasley)-starring "Harry Potter" series adaptation didn't kick off production without controversy. But for this go-around, it's not the issues surrounding the author of the works being adapted, but the racism and death threats that Paapa Essiedu has had to endure since it was announced that he would be portraying Hogwarts Professor Severus Snape (originally played by the late Alan Rickman in the feature films).

"I've been told, 'Quit or I'll murder you,'" Essiedu shared during an interview with The Sunday Times of London. "It really matters. The reality is that if I look at Instagram, I will see somebody saying, 'I'm going to come to your house and kill you.' So while I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be murdered…That could age badly! But, yes, while I hope I'll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job. Many people put their lives on the line in their work. I'm playing a wizard in 'Harry Potter.' And I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect me emotionally."

Essiedu continued, "But the abuse fuels me. And makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid. I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That's motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they'd rather I died instead of doing work I'm going to be really proud of."

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery; Sky

Also joining McLaughlin, Stanton, and Stout are Paapa Essiedu as Prof. Severus Snape John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, and Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge.

In addition, we have Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander, Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley, Warwick Davis as Professor Filius Flitwick, Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas, Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe, William Nash as Gregory Goyle, Sirine Saba as Professor Pomona Sprout, Richard Durden as Professor Cuthbert Binns, and Bríd Brennan as Madam Poppy Pomfrey.

Image: HBO

The series is written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve). Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by the creator of "Harry Potter," Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.

On the production side, we have a lineup of department heads that includes Adriano Goldman (Director of Photography), Cate Hall (Hair and Makeup Designer), Paul Herbert (Stunt Coordinator), Mark Holt (SFX Supervisor), Mara LePere-Schloop (Production Designer), Naomi Moore (Set Decorator), John Nolan (Creature Effects Design Supervisor), Alexis Wajsbrot (VFX Supervisor), Dom Sidoli (VFX Producer), and Holly Waddington (Costume Designer).

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