How Harry Potter Star Paapa Essiedu Feels About Severus Snape Casting Backlash
When HBO cast Paapa Essiedu to play potions professor Severus Snape in the upcoming "Harry Potter" series, many fans were loudly outraged at the idea of a Black actor playing the traditionally white character. One can get a sense of the backlash just by looking at the comment section of any viral tweet about him, often filled with comments calling his casting "a disgrace" or berating him for accepting the role.
In a recent interview with Time, Essiedu addressed the backlash. "I first came to this story through the books," he said. "People have got a lot of feelings about this. Obviously, everyone's got the right to their own opinions about whatever."
Essiedu explained his approach to the role: "I concentrate on the job at hand, which is to give as much humanity, as much depth, dimensions, layers, complexity to a character that has a lot of that. That is my job, and it's a privilege and it's an honor to do it, and I look forward to being able to do it for a long time now."
Paapa Essiedu says he's received death threats
This isn't the first time Paapa Essiedu has acknowledged the backlash he's gotten. In March 2026, he revealed to the The Sunday Times that he's received messages such as, "Quit or I'll murder you." He added, "If I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, 'I'm going to come to your house and kill you.' ... Nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job. ... I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect me emotionally."
Luckily, Essiedu noted in a recent interview with Variety that the "Harry Potter" cast and crew have been much nicer to him than the internet has. "The whole team has been so supportive of me," Essiedu said. He added that, as harsh as the internet may be, he's still seen a lot of positivity toward his casting. "I've also been blown away by a lot of the support and well-wishes and excitement," he said.
Essiedu will be joined in the show by Nick Frost playing Rubeus Hagrid and John Lithgow playing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The series premiere of "Harry Potter" airs on HBO on Christmas Day 2026.