'Harry Potter' series embroiled in controversy as Snape actor faces threat

Harry Potter TV series is already under tight scrutiny even before its release as it lands in one controversy after the other.

The HBO series has reportedly increased its security by a huge margin after the Ghanian-English actor, Paapa Essiedu, who plays Professor Severus Snape, has received extreme threats over the casting.

The actor has been receiving death threats over getting to play Snape, and the show’s creator Casey Bloys told Variety that the “passionate fans” of the series can get “scary in places.”

He continued, “So for any show like that, we anticipated it and tried to have training, you know, best practices in terms of social media and how to handle it. And obviously we’ve got a serious security team. So unfortunately, it was something that we thought might happen and we just try to be as careful as we can.”

Essiedu took up the role famously played by Alan Rickman in the original movies set in Hogwarts, and a black actor taking on the role stirred up a huge debate.

Previously discussing the online hate in an interview, the actor recalled, “I’ve been told, ‘Quit, or I’ll murder you.' The reality is that if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’

While Essiedu has not legally reported any of the message he received, he strongly condemned the action, stating that nobody should be scared for their life just because of their jobs.