Daniel Radcliffe shares why he spoke out against J.K. Rowling’s views

Daniel Radcliffe, who famously played Harry Potter in the movie adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s books, did not hesitate to speak out against Rowling’s comments after she first began sharing her controversial views on the transgender community back in 2020. At the time, he wrote an open letter stating, “Transgender women are women.” Now, speaking to IndieWire, Radcliffe elaborated on why he chose to speak up:

"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. And 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."

Radcliffe’s open letter was published on the website for The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focusing on preventing suicide in the LGBTQ community. Radcliffe shared that he’s been working with the group for more than a decade, so if he didn’t speak up on the matter, he doesn’t think he’d be “able to look myself in the mirror.”

Daniel Radcliffe opens up about his public criticism of J.K. Rowling’s views

As the title actor of the Harry Potter movie cast, Radcliffe’s words have a lot of weight, but he isn’t the only cast member to have spoken out. Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, has also been open about his feelings. Speaking to The Independent, he said, “I’m pro-choice, pro-discussion, pro-human rights across the board, and pro-love. And anything that is not those things, I don’t really have much time for. It is also a reminder that as much as Jo is the founder of [these] stories, she wasn’t part of the filmmaking process as much as some people might think. I think I only recall seeing her once or twice on set.”

For fans like me who have struggled to keep Rowling and the movie series separate, there is some solace in knowing she wasn’t a big part of the filmmaking process. In fact, J.K. Rowling herself endorsed this view when she declined to join the Harry Potter New Year’s special, saying that it was more about the films than the books, so it didn’t make sense for her to join.

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I’ve gone back and forth over how I feel. Radcliffe addressed this matter in his open letter, providing some comfort for fans who now feel uncomfortable about this magical world: “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the [‘Harry Potter’] books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”

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h/t Variety