J.K. Rowling Slams 'Racist Idiots' Over 'Black Hermione' Furore

J.K. Rowling has slated the ‘bunch of racists’ who have criticised the casting of a black actress in the role of Hermione in the new Harry Potter stage play.

The first pictures of Olivier Award-winner Noma Dumezweni were revealed on the Pottermore website last week ahead of the preview shows of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ in London’s West End.

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But trolls online were quick to slam with the casting, Dumezweni playing the grown-up version of the role made famous by Emma Watson in the Potter movies.

Speaking to The Observer, she said: “With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot.

“But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.

“I 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.”

The play, written by Rowling and playwright Jack Thorne, picks up the story of Harry Potter’s son, Albus Severus, played by Sam Clemmett, as he begins his academic life at Hogwarts.

The older Harry is played by Jamie Parker, while Ron is played by Paul Thornley, and daughter Rose by Cherrelle Skeete.

The play’s director John Tiffany added: “I am not as Twitter-familiar as Jo and Jack, so I hadn’t encountered its dark side, which is just awful.

“But what shocked me was the way people couldn’t visualise a non-white person as the hero of a story. It’s therefore brilliant that this has happened.”

The two-part play opens at the Palace Theatre at the end of July, and is already sold out into 2017, with tickets reportedly changing hands for as much as £800.

Image credits: Time/Pottermore