HBO Harry Potter show: Fans slam Paapa Essiedu’s casting as Severus Snape for this reason

HBO has announced some cast members for its Harry Potter television series and a controversy has already erupted over the role of Severus Snape. Many fans were disappointed by the casting of Paapa Essiedu as the Hogwarts Potions Master. The Harry Potter series is set to be the second adaptation of JK Rowling’s series after the highly successful movie franchise.

HBO, in a press release stated that Essiedu will take over the role of Severus Snape. The late Alan Rickman had earlier portrayed the character.

Fans slam Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape

As soon as the announcement broke, many admirers of the Harry Potter series took to social media and criticised the choice of Paapa Essiedu as Snape. “This choice is just confusing, great actor but wrong casting. Definitely can see the bullying being race based now which just isn’t the case in the books lol,” a fan wrote.



Another commented that HBO had divided the Harry Potter fandom even before the show started filming. “This is the worst race swap in the modern history of race swaps. Of course racism will be a focal point in Snape’s backstory now, since he will be bullied mercilessly by James Potter and his friends. HBO has officially divided the fandom before filming has even begun all for the sake of Diversity Equity and Inclusion,” a comment read.

Much of the criticism centred around how Essiedu would be different from Snape’s appearance as described in the books.

However, some had different opinions. One fan said that the makers must have a good reason to cast Essiedu as Snape.

Some defended the casting choice.

Who is Paapa Essiedu?

He is a British actor of Ghanaian descent. Essiedu’s career kicked off in 2012 when he joined The Royal Shakespeare Company. He has received acclaim for his roles in Shakespearan dramas such as Hamlet, King Lear and The Merry Wives of Windsor. The British actor has also been part of shows like Gangs of London and I May Destroy You.

HBO’s Harry Potter show

HBO will begin filming the show later this year. The Harry Potter reboot has cast John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as McGonagall and Nick Frost as Hagrid. Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse will portray Quirrell and Filch, respectively. The network had announced an open casting call for the roles of Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley in the fall and received over 30,000 submissions.