We are — for better or for worse — living through a Harry Potter renaissance. Not only is the HBO reboot show about to start filming, but it was also recently announced that Tom Felton, known for portraying Draco Malfoy in the original film saga, will be reprising his role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway 14 years after the last film premiered. However, given J.K. Rowling's transphobic views, not everyone is so excited about the IP's revival — but that does not include Felton, it seems.
At the Tony Awards red carpet on June 8, 2025, Tom Felton was asked by Variety whether J.K. Rowling's views impact him or his work at all now that he's going back to the Harry Potter world once more, and replied that he is “not really that attuned to it.” He added: “I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter, and she's responsible for that, so I'm incredibly grateful.”
The quote, as many fans on social media pointed out, is quite the privileged take. As a cis man, Felton doesn't have to live with the dangers trans people face. But as a Harry Potter star with an active fanbase, he does have the means to be a powerful ally to trans people if he chose to do so — it would be no small thing for him to reiterate (like his co-star Daniel Radcliffe did in 2020) the simple fact that trans women are women.
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Rowling first made headlines for using anti-trans language in her own tweets back in 2020. Since then, the author has only doubled down on her stance. Recently, Rowling notably celebrated the UK's Supreme Court ruling that states trans women are not considered women per the Equality Act 2010. And at the end of May, she announced the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund, which them. notes is "offering legal funding for cases concerning what she calls ‘women’s sex-based rights.’”
Whether Potter fans like it or not, the wealth generated by the franchise's fans is going — at least in part — to someone who exhibits anti-trans behavior and actively works against the trans community.
Being part of the Potter ecosystem doesn’t mean you need to stay silent on this matter. Paapa Essiedu, who signed on to play Severus Snape in HBO's Harry Potter series, signed an open letter condemning the Supreme Court ruling, which Rowling reacted to on X, saying: “I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine." (That applies both ways.)
Essiedu is not the only actor from the Harry Potter universe standing up in support of trans people. After Rowling published a transphobic essay in 2020, original Harry Potter cast members Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Bonnie Wright, and Katie Leung spoke up against her comments.
In 2022, Radcliffe further opened up about his decision to speak up, saying: “The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important.”
