Rumor: Despite Claiming To Be A “Faithful Adaptation”, ‘Harry Potter’ Max Series “Will Make A Concerted Effort To Cast More People Of Color”
Spencer Baculi
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Though Warner Bros. Discovery has claimed that their recently announced Max reboot of Harry Potter will be “a faithful adaptation of the iconic books”, a new rumor suggests that the studio will be making “a concerted effort to cast more people of color” in their small screen take on the Wizarding World.
Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) look upon Lord Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) true form in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2010), Warner Bros. Pictures
Word of WBD’s supposed casting plans was first whispered by noted film reporter and scooper Jeff Sneider during a general discussion of the Harry Potter reboot held on the April 6th episode of his and film critic John Rocha’s The Hot Mic podcast.
Addressing the topic of the upcoming Max series, Sneider revealed to his co-host that, thanks to his own insider sources, he had become privy to a bevy of supposed details regarding WBD’s magical plans.
Cautioning listeners to take his reports with “a grain of salt, like a big ass grain”, Sneider began by first noting that WBD came to their decision to reboot the franchise because “there had been talk of a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie with the original cast, but there were problems.”
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“They didn’t want to work with J.K. Rowling for obvious reasons, and that it was particularly hard to get Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe back, particularly Emma,” he explained. “Emma is the toughest one to get back into this particularly, with everything that J.K. Rowling has said and stands for.”
“What I heard was that they tried to buy Rowling out,” Sneider told Rocha, “but she requested an insane amount, so they just figured ‘Alright, if we wanna go forward with these characters, which we do, then we’re stuck with her. So it’s gonna be her, she’s not going anywhere – all due respect to Emma Watson or whatever – and then we’ll reboot it, because that is what J.K. Rowling is willing to agree to.'”
“I am told that they are serious about making this show, but it is also potentially being used as leverage to get Emma and Dan back,” he continued. “Like, ‘Yeah, if you guys don’t come back, you’re not gonna be [the faces of] Harry Potter anymore. We’re gonna find somebody else.’ And that’s easier said than done, right?”
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself on the ropes during the Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2010), Warner Bros. Pictures
Turning his focus to the Max series specifically, Sneider then recalled, “I heard there were talk of pitches being set in America, and in Paris, but Rowling shot those pitches down because Harry Potter is a British property and should stay true to its roots.”
Yet, despite this alleged interest in keeping the series “true to its roots”, the scooper then noted that “What I’ve heard about this series is that they will make a concerted effort to cast more people of color in the show, particularly in regards to the role of Hermoine.
“She could very well be an actress of color,” Sneider added.
Bringing his insights into the reboot to an end, he ultimately concluded that “You could also expect some veteran Harry Potter writers to be involved with this show in some capacity.”
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) clashes with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2010), Warner Bros. Pictures
Notably, should WBD actually more forward with ‘diversifying’ the beloved franchise, it would not be the first time that its cast, in particular Hermoine, underwent such a change.
Despite Rowling’s own concept illustrations portraying the young girl as explicitly white-skinned, black actress Noma Dumezweni was cast as an adult Hermoine in the 2016 West End stage production of the aforementioned Cursed Child.
Met with criticism of Dumezweni’s casting due to its divergence from her original works, Rowling would publicly assert, “I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’ – that is, lost colour 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.”
Noma Dumezweni speaks about her experience portraying Hermoine in the stage production of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’
As of writing, Max’s Harry Potter series has yet to receive any sort of potential release date.
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