The Harry Potter franchise books and movies hold an irreplaceable value in the lives of every ’90s and 2000s kids. All the characters in the book were brought to life by great casting for the movies. Whether small or big roles, all the actors who played these various characters in the Harry Potter movies made them memorable and iconic. However, netizens are not happy with the casting choices made by HBO for the upcoming TV series reboot of the Harry Potter franchise. As per reports, an Italian actress known as Alessia Leoni has been cast to play the role of ‘Parvati Patil’, who is depicted as Indian in the story.
HBO announced that Alessia Leoni will be playing the role of ‘Parvati Patil’ in the upcoming Harry Potter series
In the Harry Potter books and movies, the characters of ‘Parvati and Padma Patil’, also known as the ‘Patil twins’, were the only representation of Indians or South Asians in the franchise. Many Indian fans of the franchise were hence excited to find out which actresses would play these two roles. Most people had anticipated South Asian origin actors. However, HBO recently announced that an Italian-origin actress, Alessia Leoni, will be portraying the character of ‘Parvati Patil’. No announcement has been made yet on the role of the other Indian character, ‘Padma Patil’.
Netizens slam HBO for new Harry Potter cast
The announcement regarding ‘Parvati Patil’s role in HBO’s Harry Potter series has been a huge letdown for Indian fans of the franchise. Many have taken to their social media handles and lambasted the company, and accused them of ‘racial erasure’. One user wrote on Reddit, “Have they just cast an Italian as one of the only Indian characters?”. Another Redditor called HBO’s casting an ‘erasure bulls**t’ and said, “I’ll gladly delete this and eat my words if she is Desi, but with a name like Alessia Leoni, I don’t have much hope”. Another upset X (formerly Twitter) user penned down:
“This is frustrating. Why cast an Italian who just looks brown to play Parvati Patil? They easily could’ve cast an actual Indian actress. So much for “diversity” @HBO. No hate to the kid, but still…”
HBO has also cast a black actor to play ‘Severus Snape’ for the Harry Potter series
HBO has also race-swapped another Harry Potter character, which has received flak from the fandom too. The well-loved character of ‘Severus Snape’ who was White in the books and also the films, will be played by a Black actor known as Paapa Essiedu. Many fans have pointed out that this race-swap goes against the description of ‘Snape’ in the books, who was described as being pale, having a hooked nose and sallow skin. One netizen commented on Reddit, “black Snape and Italian Parvati what the f***”.
Another Redditor said that it was a good rage bait to get more outreach for the show. The user penned down, “I love it. It’s such good rage bait after they cast a black guy for a clearly white role. Now both sides have something to rage about, to increase outreach of the show. And added benefit, if the outrage becomes too much, they now have a good reason to replace BOTH actors.”
What are your thoughts on HBO casting an Italian actress for an Indian role?
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