Actress Noma Dumezweni has been cast as Hermione Granger in the two-part “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” play. The public has expressed a lack of excitement over her casting because she is Black. Seems quite fitting considering the character of Hermione is no stranger to discrimination. Hermione is the child of non-magical muggle parents for which she was teased terribly.
Rowling responded to the controversy.
“With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot. That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job. When [director] John [Tiffany] told me he’d cast her, I said, ‘Oh, that’s fabulous’ because I’d seen her in a workshop and she was fabulous,” she said.
Hermione’s skin color was never mentioned in any of the Harry Potter books. But some have argued that there are a few references to it. Rowling arduously disagrees,
“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 Palace Theatre will be producing the play. Harry Potter will be played by Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley will play Ron Weasley, and Noma Dumezweni will play Hermione Granger.
Some leading ladies went to social media to express their support.
Can't wait to see Noma Dumezweni as Hermione on stage this year. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #harrypotterandthecursedchild #2016
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) January 2, 2016
Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione ? https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015
In the long run, all that matters is that Hermione is a badass, because at the core of Hermione’s character that’s who she is.
Featured image is a screengrab via YouTube.
