Paapa Essiedu to play Snape in Harry Potter TV Show

[Marilyn MonHoe 11,011]

[Flareon Voyager 379]

I have so many thoughts on this.

But first off, I welcome the casting. Loved Paapa in Black Mirror. He seems like a cool guy. 

 

Now for my little rant of things I've seen on the internet and my own questioning:

With casting that would be surprising to most people, why is he the only Black actor among all old white actors getting casted for the adults in the series? That's either coincidence or like what some people are saying is insidious. A "diverse" casting done on purpose so that when the project fails, executives can point to this and have evidence for not casting non-white people in the future. And we ALL know this man is going to receive so much hate for simply taking on the role. 

I don't want to hear anything regarding Snape's description in the books, either. Minecraft's main character when from a dark skinned racially ambiguous being to Jack Black and no one blinked an eye for that. They changed the skin tone of that character and the movie went on to make hundreds of millions at the WW box-office.

Also, the idea of Snape getting bullied by Harry's dad and his friends in school, hanging Snape from a tree, etc. It's a choice. But this does make me wonder if the three actors playing the main trio will be non-white as well. 

And none of this should matter, but considering JKR, I find this cast odd considering her involvement. 

Or maybe it was simply that Paapa had the best audition. Yet most people can't comprehend that.

But again, a more diverse cast for this project is welcome after the travesty of character development from JKR when she wrote the original non-white characters. Potter needs a somewhat radical departure from the movies for it to stand alone. 

[elijahfan 27,484]

2 minutes ago, Flareon Voyager said:

I have so many thoughts on this.

But first off, I welcome the casting. Loved Paapa in Black Mirror. He seems like a cool guy. 

 

Now for my little rant of things I've seen on the internet and my own questioning:

With casting that would be surprising to most people, why is he the only Black actor among all old white actors getting casted for the adults in the series? That's either coincidence or like what some people are saying is insidious. A "diverse" casting done on purpose so that when the project fails, executives can point to this and have evidence for not casting non-white people in the future. And we ALL know this man is going to receive so much hate for simply taking on the role. 

I don't want to hear anything regarding Snape's description in the books, either. Minecraft's main character when from a dark skinned racially ambiguous being to Jack Black and no one blinked an eye for that. They changed the skin tone of that character and the movie went on to make hundreds of millions at the WW box-office.

Also, the idea of Snape getting bullied by Harry's dad and his friends in school, hanging Snape from a tree, etc. It's a choice. But this does make me wonder if the three actors playing the main trio will be non-white as well. 

And none of this should matter, but considering JKR, I find this cast odd considering her involvement. 

Or maybe it was simply that Paapa had the best audition. Yet most people can't comprehend that.

But again, a more diverse cast for this project is welcome after the travesty of character development from JKR when she wrote the original non-white characters. Potter needs a somewhat radical departure from the movies for it to stand alone. 

There’s so much at stake with this show that I don’t believe they’re casting him just so they can have a scapegoat if it goes South… I’m positive they’re doing everything humanly possible to make this show an enduring success.

I do think changing Snape’s ethnicity will reflect massively on the character’s backstory, I don’t believe this is making sense if their goal is to adapt the books as faithfully as possible. I won’t lose sleep over it tho and already know Paapa will deliver and likely win everyone over with his own version of the character, but this change will inevitably ripple through key elements of the story and I can understand why this is not making some people happy.

As for JKR, she’s a lot of things but racist isn’t one of them. Noma Dumezweni was cast as Hermione when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child debuted in the West End back in 2016 and Rowling was vocally supportive of this casting decision, going as far as underlying she never described Hermione’s skin color in the books.

[Borisapillar 10,128]

Harry Potter is forever tainted by JK Rowling. I can longer get invested.

[Anderson123 42,687]

Adam Driver was right there. 

[darkgaga 7,101]

I think they are making a mistake. Many people already are not a fan of the reboot even happening, Rowlings involvement, and then this. 
 

Probably a good actor though, I dont know him

[The Ew from Judas 1,516]

Well I’m sure everyone on the internet will take this news well.

[Oriane 22,759]

Many characters could easily be black, but Snape? He's the representation of white trash.

[Flareon Voyager 379]

2 hours ago, elijahfan said:

There’s so much at stake with this show that I don’t believe they’re casting him just so they can have a scapegoat if it goes South… I’m positive they’re doing everything humanly possible to make this show an enduring success.

I do think changing Snape’s ethnicity will reflect massively on the character’s backstory, I don’t believe this is making sense if their goal is to adapt the books as faithfully as possible. I won’t lose sleep over it tho and already know Paapa will deliver and likely win everyone over with his own version of the character, but this change will inevitably ripple through key elements of the story and I can understand why this is not making some people happy.

As for JKR, she’s a lot of things but racist isn’t one of them. Noma Dumezweni was cast as Hermione when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child debuted in the West End back in 2016 and Rowling was vocally supportive of this casting decision, going as far as underlying she never described Hermione’s skin color in the books.

Yea I do trust that the story they’re going for will be for the best.

As far JKR, she can still be racist while cozying up to Black people. I don’t trust her. 

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

I thought Snape's description was: a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth. He has shoulder-length, greasy black hair which frames his face, and cold, black eyes.

Im not sure if that included Tall dark and handsome  

James bullying Snape is gonna be more problematic now  but I think they didn't think about this, did they?

The description of snape is so clear from the books, and im not against diversity if it makes sense. But this choice doesn't.

I hope he will nail the role regardless.

[NUTELLA 26,621]

Rowling aside, I'm excited to see if they can actually pull this whole thing off, logistically.

I'm still amazed they were able to do the film franchise without any major hiccups. A movie-making miracle.

It won't be the same without John Williams' music.

But Lithgow & McTeer are pretty exciting imo

[RAMROD 117,035]

The trio casting will be make or break

[Ivannn 1,150]

I am sceptical about the Reboot and now with this casting I can see it will be highly controversial and most likely not very Well received.

I have not seen Paapa in anything so far so can’t really comment on his acting, but he Looks cute.

[HIMER0S 663]

The meltdowns 

[SpadesToStart 3,808]

I’m not watching that transphobe’s television show