Paapa Essiedu he says he received criticism for allegedly being racist and violent shortly after it was announced that he would be playing Snape in the upcoming game. Harry Potter series.
“It is very important. The truth is that if I look on Instagram I will see someone saying, ‘I will come to your house and kill you,'” Essiedu, 35, told. The Times of London in a profile on Saturday, March 21. “While I hope to survive, no one should have to encounter this while doing their job. Many people put their lives on the line for their job.”
He continued, “I’m playing a magician Harry Potterand I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me emotionally.”
In the new series, Essiedu will play the beloved professor of Hogwarts, a role he made famous Alan Rickman. (Rickman died in January 2016 at age 69.)
“The abuse fuels me, and it makes me very interested in making this character my own because I think about how I felt when I was a child,” Essiedu told the online outlet. “I sometimes imagine myself at Hogwarts with broomsticks, and the idea that a child like me can see himself represented in that world? That’s a reason not to be intimidated by someone who says I’d rather die instead of doing a job I’ll be proud of.
However, the actor chose not to report any death threats he received because of him Harry Potter to throw.
“I don’t think another 17-year-old boy going to jail for two weeks for threatening to kill me is actually going to make me feel any better,” he said, though he admits it was hard to ignore in the first place. “Even if you can successfully ignore it, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. The issue is always there and, even so, people see things and messages asking if I’m okay.”
Alan Rickman as Snape in ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ 2007.
Warner Bros./courtesy of the Everett CollectionEssiedu went on to point out that facing the hatred of racism is unfortunately nothing new for this actor.
“In my school, racism, misbehavior towards women [and] “Homophobia was rampant,” he said in the paper about his childhood. “I don’t know if it was specific to my school, because in a country full of dogs, young people can say anything to survive. But, to be honest, children are usually a reflection of the society they grow up in.”
Production on HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series has officially begun. “First-years, move on,” the network shared on Instagram on Monday, July 14. “The HBO Original Harry Potter series is now in production.” Monday’s announcement came with a photo of young actor Dominic McLaughlin in costume as a reimagined version of Harry Potter. An actor can be […]
Whatever the hate, Essiedu refuses to let any negativity get in the way of his experience in Harry Potter series.
“Yes, this is a big commitment,” he said The Times with a smile. “I’ll be 45 when I finish and I know my life is going to change a lot, but I just have to commit to that. I can have kids by the end of this.”
Essiedu even grew up reading JK Rowling’s best-selling series of the same name, which inspired a 2000s film series. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson again Rupert Grint.
