The internet is already exploding about Katherine Parkinson, John Lithgow and Paapa Essiedu signing up to the new Hogwarts adventures – and it hasn’t even started filming
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BO announced on Monday that it has cast nine further roles for its Harry Potter series. Recognisable faces such as Katherine Parkinson (Molly Weasley), Johnny Flynn (Lucius Malfoy) and Daniel Rigby (Vernon Dursley) have been joined by the newcomers Leo Earley, Alessia Leoni and Sienna Moosah. Well, RIP their mentions.
We have been here before – recently and often. Harry Potter has become such a febrile battleground that the pattern has already become well worn. When John Lithgow was announced as Dumbledore, he revealed that a friend had sent him a link to an article entitled: “An open letter to John Lithgow: Please walk away from Harry Potter.”
This is only the tip of the iceberg. When Nick Frost was named as the new Hagrid – a role he claims to have manifested by writing down the word “Hagrid” 5,000 times – he quickly had to disable comments on Instagram, then gave an interview in which he said that his opinions “don’t align in any way, shape or form” with those of JK Rowling. Paapa Essiedu attempted to get in front of the controversy by signing a petition calling for the UK entertainment industry to protect trans people, but this didn’t shield him from criticism. All three actors have tried to ameliorate the controversy in their own way; all three have been criticised anyway.
