'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Play Casts a 'Black Hermione', Avid Fans Not Shocked
Last Dec. 21, the official casting for the magical "Harry Potter" trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) was confirmed. Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni, and Paul Thornley were named to play the lead trio in the West End play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" in London.
In the official website of the famous series, Pottermore shared a report on the play's updates and how JK Rowling was "excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." Apparently, these 3 actors are all critically acclaimed talented and award winning, the reasons why they were the perfect cast for the lead roles.
But, as expected, an uproar of mixed emotions from the fans went about as Hermione Granger was cast with a 'black' actress. Noma Dumezweni, a Swaziland-born, Olivier award-winning actress, is set to play the beloved Muggle-born witch, while Paul Thornley and Jamie Parker will play as Ron and Harry, respectively. The role of Hermione was made to life in the movie series by Emma Watson, which may be a factor why some fans were questioning the recent casting of a 'black Hermione'.
JK Rowling, the brains behind this magical world, came to defend the casting of Dumezweni as Hermione. The top-grossing British author brought to Twitter her stance on the matter:
However, the "real fans" of the series, by heart, weren't really shocked with the news that a 'woman of coulour' will play the role of Hermione. According to Time fans have actually wondered, long before Dumezweni's casting, if Hermione Granger was indeed 'black'.
A large number of "Potterheads" imagined a 'black' Hermione through all the book series, because she was never described as white, only "very brown" in a certain point at the 4th book "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". Avid readers of Rowling's book series claim that they have really envisioned Hermione to be 'black' and there must never be a problem with that.
Amidst the flock of racist comments, this casting of a 'black woman' still continues to gain positive comments from fans. It was through this, according to them, that they have felt close and inspired with the story more than ever.