For the first time in 19 years, we have new actors cast to play the most famous do-gooder rule / law breaking trio in literature, a.k.a. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.
Jamie Parker as Harry Potter:
#OWLPOSTALSERVICE SIREN!@DickLeFenwick to play HARRY in @HPPlayLDN #CursedChild @jk_rowling @SFP_London pic.twitter.com/z9sfLa96Al
— Baz Bamigboye (@BazBam) December 20, 2015
Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley:
#OWLPOSTALSERVICE SIREN!@paulfthornley to play RON in @HPPlayLDN #CursedChild @jk_rowling @SFP_London @NimaxTheatres pic.twitter.com/fgxyppBFJ3
— Baz Bamigboye (@BazBam) December 20, 2015
And Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger:
#OWLPOSTALSERVICE SIREN! @MissDumezweni to play HERMIONE in @HPPlayLDN #CursedChild @jk_rowling @SFP_London pic.twitter.com/E8Jkz4Ylyo
— Baz Bamigboye (@BazBam) December 20, 2015
As a person-of-colour, the Laurence Olivier Award-winning Dumezweni is obviously the most note-worthy casting of the three (she was born in Swaziland to South African parents fleeing apartheid, before moving to England with the fam when she was seven).
“In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hermione is introduced with a description of her bushy brown hair and her large teeth. “There’s nothing to indicate she didn’t look just like me, yet I always pictures a white face under that bushy head. I always pictured her not-me.
“As I grew up I stopped comparing myself as much to Hollywood actors and tried to train myself out of seeing white as the default for fictional characters.
“And, somewhat miraculously, so did the internet.”
(More excellent reading on Hermione as a non-white character can be found on Quora, Huffington Post, and Hello Giggles.)
That being said, there are TWO OTHER MAJOR differences between the film trio and play trio:
- Thornley’s hair is not naturally red, and
- Parker is an original member of Alan Bennett’s History Boys cast at the National Theatre, so unlike Daniel Radcliffe, he’ll actually give a shit about his performance.