J.K. Rowling has a few words for those people who can’t seem to get over the fact that Hermione will be played by a black woman in a stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Hermione will be played by award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni, and in an interview with The Guardian, Rowling blasted those who have an issue with the casting.
“With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot,” she said. “But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.
“I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’—that is, lost color from her face after a shock—that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with,” she continued. “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.”
Last year Rowling pointed out that Hermione’s race was never mentioned in the book, and people just assumed she was white.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opens at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End at the end of July.