New Harry Potter TV Series in Production
Not confirmed yet, but look at that! A casting choice that actually makes sense.
https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-hbo-remake-hagrid-nick-frost-casting-perfect-op-ed/
Another good choice. They are doing really well on the other characters so far. I have hope that they won't screw up the casting of Snape as badly as the rumours suggest. Maybe the Paapa thing was just a deliberate way to create drama and drum up interest in the series, and they will do a 180 and cast a realistic Snape after all (fingers crossed).
Wouldn't that be great?
I've been trying not to get my hopes up because I don't want to be disappointed, but there does seem to be a pattern in how these casting choices have gone. The actress who was rumored for McGonagall changed at some point, and both the Dumbledore and Hagrid rumors turned out to be wrong.
Also, you have a point about potentially stirring up controversy. I mean, if you were going to choose someone who was the literal opposite of Snape for that purpose, Essiedu would be a great choice.
So only recently did I think about this casting, and I'm confused as to why HBO decided not to do this: Stephen Fry as Dumbledore
Maybe they tried and he turned it down. I mean, it is a huge commitment, especially for an older person who is already well established and doesn't need the work.
Stephen Fry is busy being a real life wizard. It would be cool if they have a small scene with him maybe as the PM or something equally fitting, but not time intensive in terms of acting (if he is very busy). Just the idea of Stephen Fry running Britain in some parallel universe puts a huge smile on my face! ; D
@heatherlly - That will mean that he either chose to audition for the part or auditioned for a different part and was offered the role of Snape. In either case, it would have been him who chose to pursue the role.
That's true. I didn't think about that. Good point! If he chose to portray (or accept) the role of Snape while not necessarily being in need of a job, then yes, it is also partly on him (and even then, if you truly cared about the source material, you wouldn't apply for that role until it was literally your last resort).
@thegestaltprince - Looking at Paapa's acting credentials, he played the brother of Anne Boleyn (who was played by Jodie Turner-Smith) in the show of the same name; my guess is that, whether or not he's ever read the books, he doesn't care about the physical appearance of the characters he portrays.
Well, damn. If that is his view on acting (ie, not really caring about the physical description of the character he is playing and if they match with his own), then it doesn't look good for our dear Sev. 🙁 Guess we'll have to wait and see, though.
@heatherlly - Yeah, which is fine with characters where it doesn't matter. In Snape's case though, it very much does and goes far deeper than what he looks like. I'm sorry, but if Essiedu doesn't understand that or care, that speaks volumes. It proves he's a self-serving actor who thinks shallow race swapping is okay, regardless of how much it distorts the source material.
EXACTLY my point!
Quote from Chorus on March 24, 2025, 10:58 amI find it odd that a lot of modern producers/directors seem to ignore a fundamental part of characterisation. Back when I studied media (a long time ago), the visual impact of a character was just as important as the words they spoke or their body movements. We had a whole section on how they should look, which included costume, casting, make up, hair, etc, and how outward appearance made a big difference to the character as a whole and how the viewer will interpret them. And yes, race will have an impact whether people like it or not. If character one is white and character two is black, and character one is mocking character two for their appearance, the audience will immediately interpret that as racism. It doesn't matter what the producer's/director's personal opinions are and whether they think race shouldn't matter. What matters is being aware of what the viewer thinks and then deliberately using words/mannerisms/appearance to craft the reaction you want from that viewer.
It's not just race, but other visual criteria. If character one is a man and character two is a woman and character one mocks character two for being weak, the viewer will likely interpret that to mean character one thinks character two is physically weak because she is a woman. That character might be highlighting moral weakness or lack of intellectual skill or something else, but the audience is likely to primarily focus on the fact that one is male and the other female and the more obvious physical discrepancy between the two and make that conclusion. You have to be aware of that as a producer/director.
I don't know if the above is just no longer taught in college/workshops or if it's just a case of very unskilled producers/directors having no awareness of viewer psychology (which I think is unlikely, given that I have autism and even I was able to learn these things). I could understand more if they were deliberately giving positive role model type characters to non-white actors. But in the case of Snape, you can't even use that argument. It just seems like incredibly bad casting.
Very interesting to read such a perspective on this. Especially considering I have literally zero knowledge about the film industry! Very informative! Thanks! It does make me wonder if there indeed have been some changes in what is classified as "more important" (ie character integrity vs diversity) and what isn't, since race-swapping has almost become sort of a trend since the latter half of the 2010s.
Quote from Heatherlly on March 27, 2025, 5:17 amNot confirmed yet, but look at that! A casting choice that actually makes sense.
https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-hbo-remake-hagrid-nick-frost-casting-perfect-op-ed/
FINALLY! Finally one that makes sense!
Quote from Chorus on March 27, 2025, 5:12 pmAnother good choice. They are doing really well on the other characters so far. I have hope that they won't screw up the casting of Snape as badly as the rumours suggest. Maybe the Paapa thing was just a deliberate way to create drama and drum up interest in the series, and they will do a 180 and cast a realistic Snape after all (fingers crossed).
FINGERS CROSSED for this!!✌✌
