Angie wrote in the comment thread beneath a ‘Black Severus’ post that, if true, the decision to cast Paapa Essiedu as the Hogwarts Potions Master contradicted a commitment made by the production team to be true to the books:
the director/producer stated at a presentation in December that they were Committed to getting top tier British acting talent that FOLLOWED THE BOOKS CANONICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CHARACTERS. Snape is clearly described in the books as a pale, pallid, sallow skinned man with greasy black hair that went to his shoulders, gauntness, uneven yellow teeth, a prominent hooked nose, and black piercing eyes with an intimidating gaze. 83 times throughout the books was he described in some fashion and this man has NONE of those characteristics.
The relevant passage in the ProductionList.com article to which Angie shared a link is:
At a recent Max 2025 slate presentation, showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director/executive producer Mark Mylod shared key updates. Casting is underway, with an impressive 32,000 young actors auditioning for roles, including the iconic Harry Potter. Mylod emphasized the commitment to finding top-tier British acting talent, following the books’ canonical descriptions of the characters. Casting workshops with a shortlist will begin in January, with roles such as Professor Snape, Lily, and James Potter receiving special attention to ensure accuracy in age and character portrayal. [highlighting added]
Angie — and I assume other serious readers as well — hope that this commitment means the Paapa Essiedu rumor “was just ‘reported’ as a sick joke only to start discourse within the community,” i.e., to gin up interest in the new series of shows based on the books.
I would go with “industry standard marketing maneuver” rather than “sick joke,” but I see Angie’s post (and have come to a similar conclusion about the rumors in recent weeks).
I reviewed some of the casting call materials, though, today and I think Angie is wrong to think that Mark Mylod, whatever his preferences and position may be, was speaking for HBO+ or Bronte Studios in making a commitment to follow “the books canonical descriptions.” The casting calls that have yielded 32,000 sets of audition tapes explicitly opened the doors to actors and actresses wanting to play Harry, Ron, or Hermione who did not look like the characters in the novels or the film adaptations. From Deadline‘s ‘Inside HBO’s Harry Potter Sorting Hat:’
The process to find the Boy Who Lived and his two best friends had been running for months prior to Gardiner’s revelation, following a much-publicized open callout published by the show’s casting director Lucy Bevan, which asked for children aged between nine and 11 as of April 2025 who are residents of the UK and Ireland. The call specified a commitment to “inclusive, diverse casting” and asked that, for each role, agents “submit qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation and gender identity.” The initial round asked candidates to submit two videos, one performing a short story or poem and the second asking them to talk about themselves as well as “a family member, friend or pet that you are particularly close to.”
That “commitment,” of course, contradicts the commitment to conform to “the canonical depiction of characters.” And, forgive me, I have to think the DEI commitment made explicitly before the casting call that yielded the 32,000+ responses has to trump the after-the-fact commitment of the executive producer. The child actor playing Harry Potter, then, could be Asian or Italian, a woman or non-binary, ADHD afflicted or without a leg, red or black, autoromatic, and “transgender,” though the author holds that there are no “trans kids.”
The HBO+ CEO made a soft commitment, too, in recent months to a filming schedule that will begin this summer and to a premiere in February 2027. As I wrote yesterday, I don’t think those commitments are ones to take very seriously — and I’ll say here that anyone who thinks Mylod’s “commitment” to faithfully following the written work with respect to casting characters is writ in stone is setting his or herself up for a real disappointment.
you really are full of it aren’t you? snape was described as pale, pallid and sallow. if he was described as anything darker then he would have been described as “ashen” creative writing 101. I’ve given you information. paapa essideu better not be Snape seeing as he has none of the descriptions. also he was described 22 times as pale, pallid, sallow…. and even yellow at one point in the books as well.
#24. “The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, ‘Explain.’” Pg299 Ch 18: The Weighing of The Wands Goblet of Fire Scholastic version.
if you need any more excerpts describing him in detail I have 83 of them.
not to mention, we have yet another query to explain. Rowling already is an executive producer on another show based off of a book series she wrote under the name Robert Galbraith called C.B. Strike. it has a few seasons under its belt. she has control of that project and it has been called a faithful adaptation as well…and what do you know. ..no major drastic changes to characters from how they were described in her books. she also has more control on Harry Potter than this show as well. and seeing as snape was also modeled from her childhood chemistry teacher to a T, I think it’s plain to see why this won’t come to pass. think what you will but this isn’t going to happen and if it does harry potter fans and even POC harry potter fans who don’t want this either won’t watch.