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“Harry Potter” series star Bel Powley has spoken out about author J.K. Rowling’s controversial views on gender, saying she “strongly disagrees” with them.
Powley is playing Petunia Dursley in HBO’s highly anticipated
TV adaptation of the beloved books, the first season of which is set to premiere this Christmas. In the lead-up to the show, which Rowling is executive producing, members of the new cast — which also includes John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Nick Frost as Hagrid — have faced questions over their participation due to Rowling’s beliefs, which have been criticized by many as anti-trans.
In an interview with The Telegraph published on Monday, Powley said: “I strongly disagree with J.K. Rowling’s views on gender. I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance.”
She then added, “But I love ‘Harry Potter.’ I grew up with the books. I am from that first generation of readers and, again, I love magic and spookiness.”
Lithgow has also spoken about Rowling’s views several times, saying that he even considered walking away from the show but ultimately decided against it. “The reasons to do it were much, much stronger than the reasons to protest against what Rowling has done and said,” Lithgow told “The New Yorker Radio Hour” in April. “I do disagree with much of it, much of it I think has been twisted and misrepresented, and she has doubled down on it at her own cost.”
The “Harry Potter” series cast also includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and more. “Succession” helmer Mark Mylod directs, while Francesca Gardiner serves as showrunner. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which will adapt the second book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”
