I don’t know about you, but I’ve never wondered what actor Nicholas Hoult thinks about trans people. But – whether we care or not – we’re about to find out. He’s just been cast in the new series, meaning he’s going to be asked what he thinks about JK Rowling and her thoughts on trans people for the rest of his life. And we’re going to have to listen to it.
Hoult has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the second series of the HBO Max adaptation, pre-commissioned before the first arrives on our screens this Christmas. Previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the second film instalment , Lockhart is a likeable if self-aggrandising author who becomes professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts before he reveals himself as the story’s villain. Not that any of that matters – all anyone really cares about is whether or not Hoult agrees with Rowling that trans women shouldn’t be allowed to use their preferred public toilet.
These days, Rowling seems to dedicate much of her time to opposing the rights of trans people to legally self-identify their gender. Last year she set up the JK Rowling Women’s Fund, which – in her words – is “a legal fighting fund for women protecting their sex-based rights”. Online, she is vocal about her thoughts on trans people – and nastier.
The backlash has already started against Hoult’s casting. , the culture subsidiary of magazine, ran the news with the headline “Nicholas Hoult cast as latest actor to have to distance self from J K Rowling”, while on social media, reaction hasn’t focused on if Hoult will make a good Lockhart, but whether or not he should be in the series at all. A fan account has locked its profile after posting the message: “Nicholas Hoult do better, so many of your fans are hurt.”
And while Hoult is yet to do any press since the announcement and has therefore not been forced to plant his flag for or against Rowling, others have. In an interview with , Bel Powley – who is set to play Potter’s miserable aunt Petunia Dursley – was asked for her views on Rowling’s views. “I strongly disagree with JK Rowling’s views on gender,” she said. “I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance.”
Nick Frost, who will play Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid, was asked the same question by . “She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form,” he confirmed. Paapa Essiedu, who has been cast as Professor Snape, publicly signed a letter calling for the protection of trans rights last year, confirming that his own views differ from Rowling’s without saying a word.
Even 80-year-old acting royalty John Lithgow hasn’t been saved from backlash. He has called Rowling’s hatred of trans people “ironic and somewhat inexplicable”, adding that the books contain “no trace of transphobic sensitivity. She has written this meditation of kindness and acceptance”. Still, he did consider dropping the role of Dumbledore when a friend (the parent of a trans child) sent him a link to an article entitled “An open letter to John Lithgow: Please walk away from Harry Potter”. In the end, he stayed put.
In fact, despite the outrage and their protestations against Rowling’s anti-trans campaigning, none of these top-shelf actors have actually pulled out of the series. I’d bet that some actors have quietly passed on the opportunity, and director Ally Pankiw recently posted a screenshot of her messages refusing to work on the series with the caption: “It simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia!” And she’s right – being a part of the series will generate a lot of cash for Rowling – no matter how involved she is, as the creator of the world, she stands to make a lot of money.
However the cast fervently decry Rowling’s opinions doesn’t really matter – the fact that they are associated with her at all is enough to ensure that this particularly ghoulish “debate” will follow them for ever.
Just ask Daniel Radcliffe and his fellow co-stars, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. They were only children when they were cast in the original movies, long before Rowling espoused any anti-trans views. Still, 15 years after they all said goodbye to the franchise, journalists continue to ask them if they agree with the woman who, some argue, gave them their careers (they don’t, thankfully). I hope the same fate doesn’t befall the three youngsters who are about to pick up their wands.
The rub is that , as its own individual entity, is near universally beloved. Yes, the fans who clog up St Pancras visiting Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and force plans to divert a power cable lest it upset Dobby’s “grave” are annoying, but the books and films themselves have a magical hold over entire generations.
They are so revered, so spellbinding, it seems, that millions who say they would support trans rights are more than happy to buy the wands, visit the theme parks, play the video game, watch the new series – even act in it. In the same interview she distanced herself from Rowling’s rhetoric, Powley went on to explain why she had taken the part: “But I love . I grew up with the books. I am from that first generation of readers and, again, I love magic and spookiness.”
A part in HBO Max’s series is an irresistible opportunity for an actor, but I do wonder if any of the cast are regretting their decision to get involved. Any association with Rowling is a drink from a poisoned chalice – a curse that will never lift. Is it worth it?