The upcoming Harry Potter play has announced that they have casted a black woman to play the role of Hermione Granger resulting to backlash from the fans so the author of the world-renowned series, J.K. Rowling, broke her silence on the matter.
In a report by E! News, the play where the black actress was casted entitled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The play is said to be set 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last published book regarding the famous series. The actress was identified as Noma Dumezweni, who is born in Swaziland and is an Olivier Award-winning British star.
Many of the fans questioned why a black stage performer was casted to be part of the play specifically to portray the character of Hermione, who is white in the movie and is played by actress Emma Watson.
Rowling then slammed the critics during her interview with the U.K. newspaper The Observer. 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." Rowling added that she decided not to get too agitated by the comments but she had to let the haters know that Hermione could be a black woman with her blessing and enthusiasm.
She also had nothing but high praises for the actress playing Hermione in the play. She pointed out that no matter what people will say, Dumezweni was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.
This is not the first time that Rowling defended the casting of the black actress as Hermione in the play. She took to Twitter that she "loves black Hermione" and that in the book, white skin was never specified for the role of the lead female role in the movie.
Watson herself also took to Twitter to show her support for Dumezwenzi. She shared about her excitement over the news back in January.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a two-part play that opens in London this July.
