Paapa Essiedu, the new Harry Potter star who will play Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO adaptation of the series, is opening up about the death threats he has been facing after landing the role. Essiedu spoke about the threats during an interview with The Sunday Times.
What did Paapa Essiedu say about the death threats he faced after taking the role of Snape?
Essiedu, who is replacing the late Alan Rickman to play Snape, said he received threats on social media after people learned he was taking on the role of the potions professor.
“It really matters,” Essiedu said in the interview. “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.’ So while I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be murdered…That could age badly!”
The actor continued to speak candidly, revealing that the messages are impacting his well-being.
“While I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job,” he said. “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.”
Still, Essiedu said he’s using the abuse as fuel.
“Makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid,” he said. “I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That’s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they’d rather I died instead of doing work I’m going to be really proud of.”
Before landing his new role in Harry Potter, Essiedu appeared in projects such as Black Mirror and I May Destroy You. Although he is excited for this new chapter, he said he has never seen the original Harry Potter films starring Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Still, the actor said he has read the books since childhood.
“I was an avid reader as a kid,” he said. “My mom couldn’t afford a babysitter in the holidays, so she would take me to the library. I loved ‘Harry Potter.’ I never saw the films but the books were escapism when other things were less easy for me.”
When is the new ‘Harry Potter’ series available to stream?
The new Harry Potter series is set to premiere on HBO in 2027. Actor Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry, while Arabella Stanton will star as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout will play Ron Weasley.
Essiedu has signed a 10-year contract to be part of the series.
“I’ll be 45 by the time I finish,” he said. “And I know my life is going to change in a big way, but I have to just surrender to that. I could have children by the end of this.”
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