Actor Paapa Essiedu made headlines a few months ago after it was revealed that he had been cast as Severus Snape in the upcoming ‘Harry Potter’ franchise. However, the journey since then for the actor has been anything but smooth sailing. In a recent interview, the actor opened up about how the public reacted to the news of his casting, citing that on a lot of days, he would end up coming across serious death threats online.
Paapa Essiedu talks about receiving death threats after being cast as Snape in the ‘Harry Potter’ series
On March 21, while talking to The Times about his latest endeavors, the actor got candid about the kind of hate he seems to be getting online. He admitted during the interview that the influx of death threats and racist comments against him increased tenfold once he was cast for the role of Severus Snape.
He commented that after the announcement, he noticed that a lot of people were not entirely happy with a Black actor playing the role of Severus Snape. In his interview, he mentioned, “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.”Further talking about the matter, he revealed that he has often gotten a lot of death threats as well. “It really matters. 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.’ So while I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be murdered… That could age badly! But, yes, while I hope I’ll be OK, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job,” he quipped. On how he deals with the hate, Essiedu shared that while it does affect him a lot of the time, he does not let it all pull him down in any way. He admitted that the hate becomes like fuel to his fire, and he often gets inspired to do better and better every day.
About Paapa Essiedu
The famed English actor has been active in the industry since 2012 and has worked across films, theatre programs, and web series. Some of his best-known works in theatre include ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ and ‘Hamlet.’ His big break in the entertainment industry came 4 years after his debut, when he starred as one of the lead roles in the hit OTT show ‘I May Destroy You.’Some of his other popular works include ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, ‘A Number’, ‘The Effect’, and many others.
