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For Sale Apr 3, 2026 at 7:19 AM

The HBO Harry Potter show should follow in the footsteps of recent adaptations in one crucial way

Posted by Lampsprite

In order to deal with JK Rowling’s unfortunate and frankly, ironic bigotry, given that the story she wrote is all about fighting the rise of fascism, the HBO show should do exactly what other adaptations of Harry Potter have done to distance from those views by casting at least one role with a trans actor (like the trans barmaid of the 3 Broomsticks in Hogwarts Legacy and Madame Pomfrey’s trans voice actor in the full-cast audiobook). As I’m sure we’ve all seen evidence of in discussions online, there are millions of fans who would rather not support a bigot but at the very least the show can lean into that criticism of the author’s unfortunate and frankly de-humanizing views and further re-enforce the original message of the text, which I still believe is unerringly in defense of basic human rights against prejudice and cruelty.
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15 Comments

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math-yoo Apr 3, 2026 +15
Or you could just not watch it.
15
FX114 Apr 3, 2026 +8
As a trans person, adding a trans person to the cast does nothing to alleviate the problem or distance the show from her. Especially when she's gonna make a boatload of money off of it either way.
8
NuPNua Apr 3, 2026 +8
You're assuming there's a trans actor who would want to appear in the series despite its links to her. They should have just adapted Books of Magic instead, similar concept, already owned by WB, problematic creator but he doesn't own the IP in the same way.
8
FX114 Apr 3, 2026 -1
I'm trans and I actually turned down a job related to the show. The fact that I was working on a trans rights documentary at the time helped.
-1
revolverzanbolt Apr 3, 2026 -4
There’s no chance they wouldn’t be able to find a trans actor who would jump at the opportunity to be in a major tv show for how long it’s gonna be on
-4
Lampsprite Apr 3, 2026 -9
There already is a trans actor in the Harry Potter video game and full cast audio books, as I stated in my original post.
-9
cheesyvoetjes Apr 3, 2026 +2
I feel like it's kinda pointless to try and stick it to jk Rowling by casting a trans actor, because she'll be laughing all the way to the bank. If you really want to hurt her, put your money where your mouth is and don't watch the show. Do not give them views and engagement. Do not make posts talking about the show. That is the only way to diminish the brand and diminish her. 
2
TimidPanther Apr 3, 2026 +2
Nah, they just need to adapt the books with respect to the source material. They don’t need to do anything for you, they don’t need to cast trans people just to own JKR. Don’t watch the show, no one cares.
2
Granatko Apr 3, 2026 +4
It’s a show about a boy finding out he’s a wizard and going up against a dark enemy, not some vehicle for political messaging or debates about trans rights
4
StarChild413 Apr 3, 2026
It's not like if the hypothetical trans character was one of the kids the narrative would get derailed and paused for some equivalent-arc-about-bullying-and-coming-out-and-stuff to what Glee did with gayness
0
RedHeadedSicilian52 Apr 3, 2026 -1
JK Rowling could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, and a significant portion of _Harry Potter_ fans would still watch this thing.
-1
PsychologicalHat4707 Apr 3, 2026 -5
JK Rowling should try to become Prime Minister.
-5
BeneficialSand Apr 3, 2026
I thought the idea with trans people is they want to be taken seriously as the gender they have chosen. So a “trans woman” is a woman and should be treated the same as any other woman, right ?  Then if so, a actress who transitioned to a woman should be in the same pool as every other woman looking to land a role as a woman character and that’s where the trouble arises because it’s very likely for every person who has transitioned to a woman and also happens to be an actress, there’s thousands of other actresses more talented and qualified to play that character.  So it seems then, the push for trans actresses to get roles is in a sense contradicting their whole premise. It’s instead saying “I’m not a woman… I’m a trans person… and as a trans person I should play trans person roles”… in a way it’s feeding into the critics by saying “we arent the same and we should be treated different.  I’m no longer a man so don’t compare me to actors. I am not a woman so don’t compare me to actresses.  I am a trans person and I can only play a role that is explicitly a trans character” 
0
Conscious-Quarter423 Apr 3, 2026 -3
HBO The Last of Us cast a cis female to play Lev, a trans character
-3
Past_Supermarket2245 Apr 3, 2026 +1
I thought you weren't meant to be able to know the difference.
1
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