Paapa Essiedu has told how he has received racially-charged death threats after his role as Severus Snape in the new Harry Potter series was announced.
The London-born actor, 35, said he received vile messages after signing up to play the iconic character for the next decade, including one which read: "Quit or I'll murder you."
He has opened up about how he has handled becoming the target of online abuse in wake of taking on the role in the new HBO series, which is set to be released sometime next year.
In April last year, it was announced that the BAFTA-nominated screen star would be stepping into huge shoes that the late and great Alan Rickman left behind.
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In an Instagram post celebrating the news, Essiedu wrote: "An honour and a privilege to be going on this journey with these legends. We shall eat and we shall leave no crumbs. See you at Hogwarts. Professor Snape."
He will star alongside legends such as John Lithgow, Nick Frost and Janet McTeer in the new show. The cast have currently been filming in Watford.
After it's 2027 premiere, HBO is set to continue to dole out yearly instalments of the show - which, like the film franchise, is adapted from JK Rowling’s beloved book series - for the next ten years.
Speaking of signing his life away to become Severus Snape for the next decade, Essiedu told The Times: "This is a big commitment.
"I’ll be 45 by the time I finish 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."
The Gangs of London star explained he was an 'avid reader as a kid' who regularly immersed himself in the fictional world of Harry Potter when his late mother Selina would take him to the library.
"I loved Harry Potter," he said. "I never saw the films but the books were escapism when other things were less easy for me."
Despite being more than qualified for the job, Essiedu revealed that he has received a lot of backlash after taking on the role of the potions master who Rickman played impeccably.
He explained that he believes it 'really matters' that some people have had a lot to say about him taking on a character who was written as white.
"It really matters," Essiedu said. "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'.
He continued: "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 okay, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job.
"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."
Essiedu said he has been using this online hatred to 'fuel' him, as he explained: "[It] makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid.
"I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world?
"That’s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they’d rather I died instead of doing work I’m going to be really proud of.
"The themes that run through Harry Potter are of love triumphing over hate - of acceptance. And that’s why I’m doing it.”
Avoiding social media won't help in Essiedu's eyes either, as 'even if you successfully ignore it, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening'.
"The issue remains endemic and, anyway, people see stuff and message to ask if I’m okay," he said, before detailing why he hasn't reported the death threats to police.
"I don’t think some 17-year-old boy being put in jail for two weeks for threatening to murder me would actually make me feel any better," he added.
He explained that 'racism, misogyny and homophobia' were rife at his high school and believes that bullies are 'often just a reflection of the society they’re growing up in'.
Essiedu also addressed the row that erupted after he signed a petition supporting transgender rights in the UK alongside stars such as Nicola Coughlan, Eddie Redmayne and Bella Ramsey.
Rowling, who has opposing views, was asked whether she would fire him for doing so - to which she admitted she doesn't 'have the power' to sack him, nor would she 'exercise it if she did'.
"I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine," she said in a post on X in May last year.
Essiedu said of the matter: "My points of view are mine and will continue to be so. I signed that letter because I believe that artists in the trans community have a right to be treated with dignity and should be able to work without being intimidated. I have been really supported by the production team and I’d sign that letter again today. At the end of the day, I got this job on the merit of my talent.
"And so if that was the reason I got kicked off this job, then it wouldn’t be a project I’d want to work on anyway."
Topics: Harry Potter, Racism, Celebrity, TV and Film, Celebrity News
Olivia Burke