Could Hermione Granger be black? Fans dicker with J.K. Rowling.
The cast list is out for the stage play 鈥淗arry Potter and the Cursed Child,鈥� and it has some people very upset, while others are say it's a step forward for the representation of diversity in media.
The play is based on a J.K. Rowling short story about Harry Potter鈥檚 life as an adult, where he is employed by the Ministry of Magic. Harry will be played by Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley will play Ron, and Noma Dumezweni will play Hermione. It鈥檚 Ms. Dumezweni鈥檚 casting that has some people up in arms, because they don鈥檛 like the idea of a black actress playing Hermione.
Ms. Dumezweni was born in Swaziland to South African parents. She has starred on TV and in stage plays, and聽 for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work as Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun.
Many angry fans of the books that Hermione was white all along, and that this new casting would interfere with their feelings of continuity about the book and film series.
But Ms. Rowling explains that the casting choice doesn鈥檛 interfere with the Potter cannon in the least. 鈥淐anon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. . Rowling loves black Hermione,鈥� she wrote on Twitter.
In a separate statement, Rowling said, 鈥淚鈥檓 so excited with for 鈥楬arry Potter and the Cursed Child.鈥� I can鈥檛 wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.鈥�
Others were also delighted with the casting choice.
鈥淥f course ,鈥� Stephen Bush wrote in an opinion piece for the English magazine New Statesman. 鈥淎s a child, I had brown eyes, frizzy hair, [and] was brighter than most of my classmates ... I thought Hermione was black because she was the character I most closely identified with 鈥� I didn鈥檛 identify with her because I thought she was black.鈥�
In the words of聽Jessie Thompson of Huffington Post UK: 聽鈥淭hey haven't cast a black Hermione, . If you can't see that you're not looking properly."聽
