The new HBO Harry Potter series invites fans back to Hogwarts this December with a fresh set of faces playing fan-favorite characters. Apart from the main trio playing Harry, Hermione and Ron, the rest of the cast features actors with impressive résumés, including Paapa Essiedu, who plays Professor Severus Snape.
The British actor has, unfortunately, faced racism and cruel scrutiny online after his casting was announced. However, as he told The Times during a March 2026 interview, “But the abuse fuels me.”
“And makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid,” Essiedu explained. “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.”
Nevertheless, Essiedu noted that the racism “really matters” because “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.’”
“But, yes, while I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job,” he pointed out. “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.”
Below, Hollywood Life has rounded up a few facts about Essiedu you need to know as we await the release of HBO’s Harry Potter series.
Paapa Essiedu ‘Never’ Watched the Harry Potter Movies
Essiedu has been a Harry Potter book fan since he was a kid, but he never watched the movie franchise starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
“I was an avid reader as a kid,” Essiedu told The Times in March 2026. “My mum couldn’t afford a babysitter in the holidays, so she would take me to the library. I loved Harry Potter. I never saw the films, but the books were escapism when other things were less easy for me.”
He Is an Emmy Nominee
The Southwark, London, native earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award for his performance in the BBC’s I May Destroy You.
Essiedu Has Starred in Film, TV & Theatre Productions
Essiedu is an esteemed actor, having performed on stage and on screen. He began his acting career by joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012, leading him to star in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet and King Lear.
Offstage, Essiedu has starred in the series Gangs of London, The Lazarus Project and Black Mirror: Demon 79.
