Harry Potter star reveals what she really thinks of JK Rowling controversy after being urged to walk away from series
Warning: This article contains discussion of trans issues which some readers may find distressing.
A star from the upcoming TV adaptation of Harry Potter thought her career 'might be affected' after associating with the work of JK Rowling, who is credited as an executive producer on the reboot.
Bel Powley is set to play Harry Potter’s aunt, Petunia Dursley, in the upcoming series, but has since revealed her reservations about taking on the role before filming began.
She landed her first acting break in the 2015 film The Diary of a Teenage Girl, but it now set to star alongside John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Esseidu, and Nick Frost, among others.
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Despite being obsessed with the magical films as a child, Powley noted that she 'strongly disagrees with JK Rowling’s views on gender'.
Speaking recently with The Telegraph, the actress, 34, said: "I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance."
The star went onto add: "But I love Harry Potter. I grew up with the books. I am from that first generation of readers and, again, I love magic and spookiness."
The author's views on gender and sexuality have been called into question in recent years, despite Rowling maintaining that her views are not 'transphobic'.
Her financial and creative involvement in the upcoming Harry Potter TV show has prompted calls for a boycott from many individuals within the LGBTQ+ community.
But Powley isn’t the only cast member to admit that Rowling’s views nearly put them off joining the show.
Other Harry Potter cast members have also spoken out about JK Rowling
John Lithgow, who plays the iconic Albus Dumbledore, described her some of her comments as 'ironic and inexplicable'.
Despite having been 'urged to walk away' from the project, he noted: "I was not about to do that."
Speaking with The New Yorker, he said: "The reasons to do it were much, much stronger than the reasons to protest against what Rowling has done and said.
"I do disagree with much of it, much of it I think has been twisted and misrepresented, and she has doubled down on it at her own cost."
Nick Frost, who has been cast as Hagrid in the series, added while speaking with the Observer: "She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine - they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.
"We shouldn’t just hope it will go away, because it makes it easier. Maybe we should educate ourselves."
JK Rowling's controversial comments
Many on social media have found Rowling's views on gender disappointing, particularly relating to transgender individuals.
On one occasion, she wrote on X: "If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth."
She also previously described the use of hormone therapy as 'a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people, who are being set on a lifelong path of medicalisation that may result in the loss of their fertility and/or full sexual function'.
UNILAD has contacted JK Rowlings representatives for comment.
Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Celebrity, Film and TV, LGBTQ
Mia Williams