Harry Potter series star Paapa Essiedu admitted that severe online abuse has been affecting him in the wake of landing a new role.
He revealed receiving race-fuelled death threats over his casting as Professor Snape in the upcoming HBO Max adaptation.
“I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’” The Outrun star said in a new interview. “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.’ So while I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be murdered…That could age badly!”
“But, yes, while I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job,” he emphasised. “Many people put their lives on the line in their work.”
“I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter. And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally,” The Lazarus Project alum told The Sunday Times of London.
Despite the toll the 35-year-old has turned the mental trauma into something useful for him.
“Abuse fuels me,” he continued in the interview. “And makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid.”
The I May Destroy You actor admitted he’d never seen the original movies, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, but had been a fan of J.K. Rowling’s book series as a child.
He has signed onto the series for ten years. “I’ll be 45 by the time I finish,” Essiedu said, “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.”
For the unversed, the new series is set to launch on HBO Max in 2027 with an (almost) entirely new cast.
The central trio consist of Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
