Actress playing Hermione in Harry Potter stage play admits

Actress playing Hermione in Harry Potter stage play admits to ‘huge weight of expectation’

Noma Dumezweni, the actress who caused controversy when she was cast as Hermione Granger in the upcoming Harry Potter stage play, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, has admitted that the ‘weight of expectation’ now on her shoulders is ‘huge’.

Some “fans” of the series were outraged when Noma was cast as Hermione, and author JK Rowling ended up wading in to the debate, tweeting: ‘Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione.’

She also told The Observer that she ‘had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’ – that is, lost colour from her face after a shock – that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with’.

‘But I decided not to get too agitated about it and simply state quite firmly that Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm,’ she added.

Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione 😘 https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015

Now, speaking to The New York Times, Noma has said: ‘The weight of expectation is huge. But for me that pressure has been outweighed by getting text messages from mums I know saying how huge it is for their mixed-race daughters that I am playing Hermione.

‘Ultimately it’s a theater piece, I’m a theater actor and doing a job as best I can.’

Paul Thornley, Noma Dumezweni and Cherelle Skeete who will play Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Rose Granger-Weasley (Picture: PA)

The entire allocation of tickets for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child are now sold out until 2017 – and selling for up to £800 due to demand.

The play is set over two productions, with audiences choosing to watch the two back-to-back or on consecutive days. Set 19 years after the conclusion of the book series, it looks at Harry’s life, and that of his friends, as their children begin their first years at Hogwarts.

source: www.metro.co.uk