Paapa Essiedu says that he received an onslaught of allegedly racist and violent criticism shortly after it was announced he would be playing Snape in the upcoming Harry Potter series.
“It really matters. 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,” Essiedu, 35, told The Times of London in a Saturday, March 21, profile. “While I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job. Many people put their lives on the line in their work.”
He continued, “I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter, and I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally.”
In the new series, Essiedu is set to play the beloved Hogwarts professor, a role made famous by Alan Rickman. (Rickman died in January 2016 at age 69.)
“The abuse fuels me, and makes me more passionate about making this character my own because I think of how I felt as a kid,” Essiedu stated to the outlet of the online trolls. “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.”
The actor, however, has opted against reporting any of the death threats he received for his Harry Potter casting.
“I don’t think some 17-year-old boy being put in jail for two weeks for threatening to murder me would actually make me feel any better,” he said, while acknowledging it is difficult to ignore the comments in the first place. “Even if you successfully ignore it, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. The issue remains endemic and, anyway, people see stuff and message to ask if I’m OK.”
Essiedu further revealed that dealing with racist hate is, unfortunately, nothing new for the actor.
“At my school, racism, misogyny [and] homophobia were rife,” he claimed to the outlet about his childhood. “I don’t know if it was specific to my school, because in a dog-eat-dog world, teenagers will say anything to survive. But, to be honest, kids are often just a reflection of the society they’re growing up in.”
Regardless of the hate, Essiedu refuses to let any negativity damper his experience on the Harry Potter series.
“Yes, this is a big commitment,” he told The Times with a smile. “I’ll be 45 by the time I finish 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.”
Essiedu even grew up reading J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series of the same name, which inspired a 2000s film franchise starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
