Harry Potter is coming to television and streaming shortly, and today, April 14, fans received confirmation of some of the cast members set to play in the upcoming Max series. Paapa Essiedu, the actor set to play Snape, is one the newest cast members and has one of the most challenging roles in the series. Snape masterfully balances cold, evil presence with an undertone of love and protection, a juxtaposition that is nearly impossible to nail. So who is Paapa Essiedu, and what should fans expect from the new Snape?
Actor Paapa Essiedu Built A Successful Career In Acting
Paapa Essiedu is a British actor who burst onto the scene in 2012, working at the Royal Shakespeare Company for productions such as The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, and King Lear. He has since played a role in multiple feature films, including Murder on the Orient Express, Me, and The Outrun. His biggest break in acting, though, came in his recurring role on BBC’s hit show I May Destroy You. Additional shows in his portfolio include Anne Boleyn, Gangs of London, The Lazarus Project, and Black Mirror: Demon 79.
In his decade-plus of acting roles, Paapa Essiedu has earned many recognitions for his outstanding performances. He has won 2 awards for Hamlet, King Lear, and I May Destroy You, but has been nominated for many others. Two such nominations include a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Television Award, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively. He also has multiple award nominations pending.
Outside of acting, Paapa Essiedu was born in Southwark, London. He was born to Ghanaian parents, but his father returned to Ghana and eventually passed away when Essiedu was a teenager. His mother, who raised him, passed away of Breast Cancer while Essiedu was attending acting school. Through both heartbreaks, he continued to push forward in his career and follow his dreams. He later married in 2023 to actress and comedian Rosa Robson.
Why Is Casting Paapa Essiedu Sparking Debate?
Max is beginning to announce the cast list for the Harry Potter television show, which is expected to stay true to the original book series. Most of the cast will be completely different from the movies, with only one carryover so far from the movie series, and even then, that actor is playing a new role. With change comes new expectations. However, not everyone is thrilled with the casting, taking particular exception with Paapa Essiedu as Professor Snape.
Specifically, the pushback is coming around changes to the way characters are traditionally portrayed. In both movie form and written literature, Professor Snape has been depicted as a white character. Placing Paapa Essiedu in the role now is seen by many as an arbitrary way to try and diversify the cast. Other examples in recent pop culture of this debate sparked from Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and Zendaya being cast as MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Yet, in both of those cases, the actresses were highly qualified for the role and were critically acclaimed in the performance. Zendaya spoke out in response to that backlash in a 2016 interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “Of course there’s going to be outrage over that because for some reason some people just aren’t ready. I’m like, ‘I don’t know what America you live in, but from what I see when I walk outside my streets of New York right now, I see lots of diversity and I see the real world and it’s beautiful, and that’s what should be reflected and that’s what is reflected so you’re just going to have to get over it.'”
Paapa Essiedu will play a fantastic Snape. He has the experience and diverse career to master all the elements. Representation matters, and having diversity in a cast is not a negative thing. If each actor is best capable of playing the role, that is the only thing that matters. Reimagining what a character looks like and acts like may be a challenge for fans at first, but this new era of Harry Potter will have an entirely new cast, all of which will be reimagined from the original casting. Essiedu is a decorated actor who brings a wealth of experience to an already star-studded cast.
