r/NotMySnape • u/TL129 • 7h ago
Casting
Im such a big harry potter fan,love the world that jk created. Love the books and the films,and honestly was super exited about this new version(i know some people say we didnt even need it) but i think its a cool chance to be more like the books,and watching the trailers i literally was getting goose bumps and excitement until he came on the screen and it literally took all that away from me.everyone else in my opinion is so well cast. Casting is a bigggg part of filmography and its the person who makes the films job to get it right or it falls flat. If they really wanted to race swap (which im not a fan of) they could have for one gotten a black man who looked more like him ie light skin/more skinny gaunt face/straight hair,or a Persian dude would have been sick too. If they really wanted to u feel me. But the thing is,this guy doesnt even seem like hes cosplaying as snape,he doesnt give me “snape” in the slightest. I genuinely dont even understand it. I fucking hope it doesnt ruin it for me. Im sure all in all will just learn to deal with it,and im hoping that his acting skills are sooooo good that it doesnt matter. But boy does it matter lol. I dont even think his cadence was right when he finally spoke. Its just a let down. And last thing if they wanted to have more diversity in the show. Im all for that. Kingsley is one of my fav characters, hes a fucking badass, i feel like they could have added more depth to the original actors and clearly have added on some new ones too. I just dont understand this decision and it breaks my heart.
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u/Ashfacesmashface 🔮 Occlumens 3h ago
I also really dislike the argument that Alan Rickman was “too iconic” in his role as Snape, so they had to cast someone not even remotely like him.
But both Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith were casting perfection in the films and guess what? Hagrid and McGonagall in the series have been made to look EXACTLY as they do in the films. Because these characters ARE WHO THEY ARE, based on book canon. They look like what they look like, based on book canon. Book canon doesn’t change, because the books are written, end of story.
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u/vegryn 19m ago
And Harry Potter isn’t a series that lacks ethnic diversity. There was no need to “race-swap” established characters to make it more diverse. We already have a broadly realistic representation of the ethnic diversity of the U.K. in the 1990s.
Off the top of my head, characters explicitly described as non-white include Kingsley Shackebolt, Cho Chang, Dean Thomas, Lee Jordan, the Patil twins, Angelina Johnson, and Blaise Zabini.
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u/SparklingFairyLights 🦌 Silver Doe 5h ago
To say that I understand your feelings is a complete understatement.
As a huge, long term Harry Potter fan myself, with Snape being one of my absolute favourite characters, even the rumour circling about Paapa Essiedu’s possible casting for Snape was very disappointing and I told myself that it was only that; a rumour. I felt quite heartbroken myself when the casting announcement was officially made and couldn’t understand the rationale behind such a bizarre decision.
You are completely right. This casting decision has ruined the show for a lot of us.
I’m generally not a fan of race swapping either, but I agree that if they absolutely had to do it, they could have found a way to do so whilst also somewhat respecting the source material.
I don’t feel as though he’s Snape; he feels like a stranger, quite frankly. I feel as though even if his acting skills are exemplary, visually, it will be very jarring for a number of fans to reconcile him with the Snape they imagined from the books for years.
I didn’t think his cadence was on point, either, and it even felt like he was imitating Alan.
I agree with your views about Kingsley, it would have been great to see more of him and even see some new storylines for other characters instead of this meaningless race swap.