The author expressed her anger towards 'a bunch of racists' who criticized the casting of black actress Noma Dumezweni as Hermione in 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'.
- Jun 6, 2016
AceShowbiz - J. K. Rowling expressed her anger towards racist people who criticized the decision to tap black actress Noma Dumezweni to play Hermione Granger in "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". The author praised Dumezweni as "the best actress for the job" to defend the choice of actress for the role.
The Olivier Award winner was picked for the role in December 2015 by the play's director, John Tiffany, who is known for directing the musical "Once". However, trollers on online media criticized the casting after they found out that the role of grown-up Hermione would be played by a black actress.
"With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiots," Rowling told the Guardian in an interview about the "racist" critics of Dumezweni's casting. "But what can you say? That's the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job."
The author also said that she had never insisted the character had to be either black or white. She said, "I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione 'turned white' - that is, lost color from her face after a shock - that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with. But I decided not to get too agitated about it and simply state quite firmly that Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm."
The author also pointed out that she did not mention Hermione's skin color in the book. She is often portrayed as black in fan art.
Around 175.000 tickets have been sold in the first 24 hours pre-sales were made available. The stage play will start at the end of July in London.
