harry potter Television series are already under strict scrutiny even before their release as they fall into one controversy after another.
The HBO series has reportedly increased its security greatly after Ghanaian-English actor Paapa Essiedu, who plays Professor Severus Snape, received extreme threats over casting.
The actor has been receiving death threats for playing Snape, and the show’s creator, Casey Bloys, told him Variety that “passionate fans” of the series can “be scary in places.”
He continued, “So for any program like that, we anticipate it and try to have training, you know, best practices in terms of social media and how to handle it. And obviously we have a serious security team. So unfortunately, it was something that we thought might happen and we just tried to be as careful as possible.”
Essiedu took on the famous role played by Alan Rickman in the original films set at Hogwarts, and the fact that a black actor took on the role sparked much debate.
Previously, in an interview about online hate, the actor recalled: “I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll kill you.’ The reality is, if I look at Instagram I see someone saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’
While Essiedu has not legally reported any of the messages he received, he strongly condemned the action and stated that no one should fear for their life just because of their job.
