Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, or when diversity changes more than a book character's looks
HBO's new Harry Potter series was supposed to be a chance to return to Hogwarts. Yet instead of excitement, I find myself thinking about how much a single casting change can affect a story I know practically by heart. And perhaps even more about why some different interpretations do not bother me at all, while others raise so many questions for me.
When HBO announced its new Harry Potter series, I was happy. I like the original films, but the books are something else for me. The films leave out many storylines, some characters got desperately little space, and plenty of important events were simplified or cut entirely. The idea that each book could get a whole season therefore sounded tempting. Especially since the new project presented itself from the start as a more faithful adaptation of the original work.
And of course I was curious about Severus Snape. Anyone who knows me knows that I have had a soft spot for this unpleasant Potions master for more than twenty years. I am fascinated by his character, his past, his intelligence and all the contradictions that make him one of the most complicated people in the whole series. I definitely do not idealise him. Severus can be cruel, petty and often behaves like a complete bastard, while at the same time being capable of extraordinary courage and self sacrifice. That is exactly why I was so curious who would take on his role and how they would handle it.
But then came the announcement that he would be played by British actor Paapa Essiedu, and my excitement practically vanished. Not because I doubt his acting abilities. He has acclaimed theatre and television work behind him, and I have not yet seen enough of his Severus to judge it fairly. But his casting differs so much from my image of the book Snape that I caught myself wondering whether the new series still interests me at all.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realised it is not only about one actor's appearance. I actually became interested in something much more complicated. If we decide to change the physical appearance of a literary character, are we really changing only what we see on screen, or can we also affect the meaning of the events that shaped that character's whole life?
Severus Snape and details that are not trivial to me
The Severus of the books has a very specific appearance. He is tall, thin, with sallow pale skin, a hooked nose and greasy black hair. His appearance is off putting, and Rowling reminds us of it again and again. Moreover, he is not someone who grew up in a pleasant environment. Severus comes from a poor family, has a complicated relationship with his parents, and during his school years becomes the target of humiliation that marks the rest of his life.
Of course I realise that Alan Rickman was not a perfect copy of the literary original either. He was significantly older than the book Severus, and his interpretation was at times more restrained than the Potions master we know from the books. Still, he managed to capture his nature in a way I found very convincing. His sarcasm, intelligence, aloofness and ability to command respect with a single look simply belonged to Severus for me. That does not mean I could not accept a different actor. On the contrary, I was looking forward to a new interpretation, I just expected a certain faithfulness in his physical appearance as well.
When I thought about the casting in more detail, I started noticing even seemingly small things. In the books Severus is repeatedly described as pale, sometimes downright sallow. His straight, greasy hair is one of his most distinctive features, and as a reader I picture some physical signs of pain, exhaustion or injury very specifically. With an actor with dark skin, these details will naturally look different. Pallor or a bluish tinge may show more as a greyish or ashen shade, while bruises can sometimes be harder to see on darker skin. Blood itself is of course visible regardless of skin colour. Straight hair can also be created with the right styling or a wig, and hair texture differs even among people of the same background.
All of these are things film make up artists can solve to a certain extent. But the question remains whether the resulting Severus will match the image I carry in my head. Maybe I would get used to his new look over time. I am honestly not sure, because my imagination is rather stubborn in this respect. And above all, I am one of those people who think a lot about stories, look for connections and also ponder things the author may never have intended to address. That is exactly why I fear that other changes brought by the new casting could matter much more to me.
How does Severus's past change when we start seeing him differently?
Let us recall Severus's worst memory from Order of the Phoenix. Through the Pensieve, Harry watches James Potter and Sirius Black humiliate young Severus in front of other students. James disarms him, hangs him upside down with a spell and turns him into a public spectacle while everyone around laughs. The whole situation is extremely unpleasant and shows us once and for all that James was definitely not always the wonderful person Harry believed him to be for so long.
Now imagine exactly the same scene, but with Severus as a Black boy. In front of him stand two white students who enjoy considerable social standing at school, while he is publicly humiliated, helpless and exposed to the mockery of others.
Suddenly another possible interpretation emerges, one that does not come to the fore in this way in the original books. The history of racial oppression, public humiliation and violence against Black people has left very specific images in our society. And even though in the original story James does not bully Severus because of his ethnicity, viewers may also connect the new scene with racial violence, without a single racist remark being spoken in the script.
The historical setting is interesting too. Severus was born in 1960 and started at Hogwarts in 1971. He therefore grew up in Britain at a time when racial discrimination was definitely not a thing of the past. The 1970s were marked by far right movements, racist attacks and protests against the unequal treatment of people of African, Caribbean and Asian descent. If we saw Severus as a Black boy growing up in this society, I would naturally start asking what experiences he might also have had outside the wizarding world and whether they shaped his character.
I am not saying that James and Sirius will automatically be racists in the new series, or that every Black boy in Britain lived the same life. I am only pointing out that a change in appearance can bring a new historical context into a familiar situation. And that context does not disappear from the viewer's mind just because the screenwriter decides to keep the original dialogue.
Severus's insult to Lily Evans, who stands up for him in this scene, could then feel just as interesting. In a rush of humiliation he calls her a Mudblood and practically destroys their friendship. Severus then joins the Death Eaters, a group preaching the superiority of wizards of a certain lineage, even though he himself is not pure blood. Even in the books this is a fascinating contradiction. But if we also watch it as the story of a Black man, his decision may recall other real historical and psychological paradoxes connected to embracing an ideology built on excluding others.
Of course wizarding pure blood status cannot simply be compared to skin colour. They are two different systems, and the world of Harry Potter has its own rules. Still, I think associations like these are an example of why a casting change is sometimes not merely cosmetic. It can affect how viewers understand a character's position, their past and the decisions they made.
And this is probably my biggest reservation. We do not know whether the creators will decide to develop these new connections in some way or leave them unaddressed. The first option could create a very interesting but markedly different interpretation of Severus. The second could cause some scenes to feel different in viewers' eyes without the series telling them that way. Both raise questions for me that I do not yet have answers to.
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Why does it bother us so much when someone changes a familiar character?
I think part of the answer has to do with how we build our own version of a fictional world while reading. A book gives us descriptions, dialogue and events, but we fill in many details ourselves. Gradually a certain image of the setting and the characters takes shape, and it can deepen with every reread. And if we keep returning to a story for many years, its form can become so familiar to us that any significant change feels jarring.
Psychologists have long studied this kind of immersion in storytelling. You may come across the term narrative transportation, which describes how a story can draw us in so deeply that we experience its events with strong emotion. I can see very clearly in myself how strong a bond I can form with literary characters, even though I know they are fiction. And with Severus it is not a matter of a few months, but of more than twenty years.
At the same time I know perfectly well that my own image is not the only correct one, and that another reader may see exactly the same change as unimportant. I just wish that debates about adaptations did not forget that readers are often not just passive consumers of a story. They have built a long term relationship with it, and that may explain why certain details matter so much to them.
I feel similarly about Tolkien's Middle earth or ancient myths. With The Rings of Power or Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, some creative choices give me a similar sense of distance, although of course these are not identical cases. Tolkien's world has its own history, cultures and rules, while ancient myths have gone through many different interpretations over the centuries. But with both I come with a certain image of the world I would like to return to. If a new adaptation differs significantly, it does not mean it is bad. It just may happen that I no longer find in it what drew me to the original so much.
Diversity and one rather interesting contradiction
When people talk about casting changes today, we very quickly get to diversity and representation. Personally, I understand why it matters that actors of different ethnicities get opportunities and that viewers can also see themselves in their favourite stories. I do not think, however, that diversity in casting automatically guarantees a good adaptation, just as I do not think it automatically makes it worse. It always depends on the specific work and on how the creators handle the new interpretation.
And then, while thinking about the whole topic, I realised one more thing that complicates my own position in a rather interesting way.
I cosplay Asian characters myself.
Maybe you have already seen my Wei Wuxian costumes from Mo Dao Zu Shi. I do not cosplay his classic look, though, but fanfiction versions, that is, my own interpretations of the character. So far I have sewn one costume myself, the others I bought. I am not Asian, and yet these characters have touched me so much that I spend a lot of time on them and try to capture their personality through clothing, gestures and expression. And it does not feel at all like I am doing something wrong.
Once on TikTok I heard a sentence from Prince De Guzman that stuck in my head, "Cosplay is for everybody and every BODY." And I agree with it. In my opinion cosplay should not be reserved only for people who have the same body, face or ethnicity as their favourite hero. If someone loves a story, they should be able to express their connection to its characters through a costume, with respect for the culture they come from, of course.
But then the question arises whether my approach to the new Severus is not a bit of a double standard. Why can I portray Wei Wuxian even though I am not Chinese, yet it bothers me when a Black actor portrays a literary character who is described differently in the books?
I think there is a certain difference after all. Cosplay is a personal fan interpretation, and I am not trying to create an official new version of Wei Wuxian with it. On top of that I portray fanfiction versions, so it is clear from the start that it is my own take on the character. An official adaptation, on the other hand, addresses a broad audience as a new version of the original story, and in the case of Harry Potter it even explicitly promises faithfulness to the books. That is why I expect a somewhat different approach from it.
Still, I have to admit that the very essence of cosplay and acting has something in common. In both cases it is an attempt to become someone else for a while, capture their character and offer your own interpretation. And if I can put so much work and enthusiasm into a character from a culture I was not born into, why should I automatically assume that someone else cannot have a similar connection?
It was exactly this question that made me think about Paapa Essiedu himself a little differently.
What if Severus means as much to him as he does to me?
When the casting was announced, I was mainly thinking about what I thought of it. About his appearance, the book description of Severus and all the consequences the new adaptation might have. But then it occurred to me, what if Harry Potter also means something much more personal to the actor himself than just another job?
And it turned out that this is not unlikely at all. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Paapa Essiedu described how he loved the Harry Potter books as a child. His mum could not afford childcare during the holidays, so she used to take him to the library, where he read. The wizarding world was a way for him to escape everyday worries, and he imagined himself flying on a broomstick around Hogwarts. Interestingly, by his own account he never saw the original film series with Alan Rickman. The interview was summarised, for example, by Variety.
So I cannot claim that Rickman was his acting role model or that he dreamed of playing Severus Snape since childhood. I simply do not know that. But we do know he had a relationship with Harry Potter long before HBO offered him this role. And perhaps that is exactly why his interpretation will be much more personal than I originally imagined.
Suddenly I am looking at the whole situation from the other side too. I am a reader who wants to preserve the image of a beloved character, while he is an actor who got the chance to step into a world that has been with him since childhood. And neither of these facts has to automatically diminish the other. He can have a deep connection to his role, and I can still have reservations about HBO's decision.
That makes it all the sadder to me that after the casting was announced he also faced racist abuse and death threats. Something like that is completely incomprehensible to me. There is a huge difference between criticising an artistic decision and hatred towards a person who accepted the role he was offered. And honestly, the idea that I myself could face similar treatment just because I decided to portray a beloved character is pretty frightening.
That is also why I am trying to sort out my own opinion a little. I do not want to automatically condemn something I have not seen yet, but at the same time I cannot pretend excitement I do not feel. And my questions about Severus's past, the historical context and faithfulness to the source have not disappeared. I have just realised that on the other side there is not only a studio's decision, but also a real person for whom this story may mean a lot.
So will I give the new Harry Potter a chance?
Honestly, I do not know. And I think that is probably the most accurate answer I can give right now.
Maybe I would get used to the new Severus over time. It is possible that Paapa Essiedu will in the end manage to capture his intelligence, sarcasm, unpleasant nature and inner conflicts in a way that surprises me. But I know myself. With stories I think about connections that may not even occur to others, and I fear that while watching I would keep coming back to the questions I explored in this article. Perhaps their weight would in the end outweigh even an excellent performance.
At the same time, I do not want to say I will never watch the new series. While writing I realised myself that some of my arguments also have another side worth thinking about. My experience with my own cosplay reminded me, for example, that love for a character does not have to be limited by physical resemblance, and the interviews with the actor himself showed me that his relationship with the wizarding world may be just as personal as mine.
But none of this means I am ready to accept the new casting. For now disappointment prevails, and above all the feeling that something I was originally looking forward to has gone in a completely different direction than I expected. And I do not think I should force myself to change my opinion just because I would like to seem more open minded.
So maybe I will still have to find my way to the new Severus. Maybe one day a good review, a convincing scene or plain curiosity will lead me there. And maybe I will also find that my original image stays so strong that I will never fully come to terms with the new version.
Right now, though, I do not feel like going back to Hogwarts. And even though it makes me a little sad, I will give myself time to see whether that ever changes. After all, Severus Snape has been with me for more than twenty years, and during that time I have changed my mind about him several times. So maybe it is not entirely out of the question that he will surprise me once again.
Yours, Mimosa
Mimosa Confiante
By day, I work somewhere between marketing, copy and campaigns; by night, I usually end up somewhere between fanfiction, cosplay and yet another “what if” that refuses to leave me alone. I write mainly in the Harry Potter and Mo Dao Zu Shi fandoms, most often Snarry, Snamione, HarryLu and WangXian. My healthcare background means that anatomy, medicine and far too much research occasionally find their way into my stories. Cosplay is another way for me to play with the characters I love, whether I stay close to canon or turn them into my own fanfiction and AU versions. In Diary of a Slytherin Girl with ADHD, I write openly about life with a brain that usually has far too many tabs open at once.
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