Paapa Essiedu, set to portray Professor Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, has been the target of alarming death threats since joining the cast, prompting the studio to implement heightened security measures.
The Ghanaian-English actor revealed the abuse is relentless. Speaking to The Times, he said, “I’ve been told, ‘Quit, or I’ll murder you.’ The reality is that if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’ While I hope I’ll be okay, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job. Many people put their lives on the line in their work. I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter. And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally.”
Despite the threats, Essiedu has not reported them, noting, “I don’t think some 17-year-old boy being put in jail for two weeks for threatening to murder me would actually make me feel any better.”
Jason Isaacs, the original Lucius Malfoy, criticized the online backlash as racist and praised Essiedu as “one of the best actors” he’s ever seen.
The controversy around Essiedu’s casting intersects with a broader debate surrounding J.K. Rowling’s public stance on transgender issues. Essiedu has openly voiced support for inclusivity, telling The Times, “Artists in the trans community have a right to be treated with dignity and should be able to work without being intimidated.”
In May 2025, Rowling herself weighed in, rejecting calls from fans to remove Essiedu from the series. “I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine,” she wrote on X.