J.K. Rowling Tweets Support of Hermione Casting

J. K. Rowling tweets that Hermione is never specified to be white in her books, and therefore colorblind casting is just fine.

Last night, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced the actors cast as the adult versions of Ron, Harry and Hermione, nineteen years later. The big news was that actress Noma Dumezweni was cast as Hermione Granger. Though a bit of a head turner of a decision, it was not that big of a shock, considering that only a couple of years ago Buzzfeed brought to everyone’s attention the tumblr idea of a racebent Hermione, based on the fact that nowhere in the books does it ever say her skin is white.

Cast image via harrypottertheplay.com

Unfortunately, not everyone was ok with that choice, and soon Twitter was filled with terribly racist people saying terribly racist thing, or worse, people who don’t think they are racist, acting as if this was the end of the world because how could Hermione be white in the movies and not on stage? Rowling, bless her heart, was having none of it. She herself is heavily involved with the stage play, having co written the script and acting as producer. It is almost certain she was part of this decision. But just in case her fans wanted to somehow to think she wasn’t, she came out on Twitter this morning and made the answer clear.

"Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione"

She also retweeted the following:

Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that I think when Rowling wrote Sorcerer’s Stone twenty years ago, she wrote Hermione as black. To be blunt about it, I think Rowling was so unconscious of the white culture she was living in, she never actually specified Hermione’s skin color because white was such the default, it never occurred to her that she had to. I also think that, being unaware of American culture at the time, and how English phrases and references over here mean something very different than they do in the UK, it never occurred to her that the descriptor phrase “frizzy hair” had a very different connotation on this side of the pond. And it would not be that surprising to be that learn that once she saw how the story was being read by fans of color, and that, by sheer accident, she had basically written a color blind character, who could easily be read as a black girl, she decided to retroactively embrace it, and that it influenced the choice of casting here.

I’ve already heard from some fans that this smacks of her choice to retroactive “out” Dumbledore once the books and movies were over. That argument, for those unfamiliar, is that by not openly suggesting Dumbledore was gay in the books, or the movies, she declined to risk the sales of her franchise or court controversy while it was still being made, by those who might have hysterics over the idea of a gay professor mentoring a male student, and then retroactively wanted credit. But I disagree here. After all, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is very risky to begin with. It’s not in a movie house, where trailers will be shown over and over. There are no international ticket sales to bolster the bottom line if the domestic box office falters. This is not the world where actors do take after take, and then the best one is served to us. Theater is a world of short-order cook acting, done every night, and sometimes twice on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There is no guarantee the show will be a hit. There is no guarantee it will find enough audience to bring it across the to New York and Broadway. To then also choose to use it to support her minority fans and embrace the idea of a colorblind casting of Hermione with a black actress is a huge risk. It speaks to how much Rowling is willing to see her own art through the eyes of others, and embrace a different interpretation.

Fans everywhere should be moved by it. I know I am.

Next: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Cast ANNOUNCED!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will begin previews in May and open officially at the Palace Theater in July. Excuse me while I go buy tickets.