Black Hermione cast in new ‘Harry Potter’ play, J.K. Rowling approves

A black actress playing Hermione Granger? J.K. Rowling has no problem with that.

The bestselling author of the Harry Potter books has responded to mixed reactions after the cast for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — a new London, U.K. play featuring Harry as an adult — was announced Monday. The role of Hermione, made famous in the film versions by Emma Watson, will be played by Swaziland-born actress Noma Dumezweni.

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Rowling said on Twitter that the character’s skin colour had in fact never been specified in the books.

The author also retweeted fan art based on Dumezweni as Hermione.

Dumezweni, 45, won the Olivier award for best performance in a supporting role for her work in 2005’s A Raisin in the Sun, and recently replaced an ailing Kim Cattrall in Penny Skinner’s play Linda.

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The play, based on a new story by Rowling and others, opens July 30.

This is the plot, according to the play’s website:

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.</p><p>While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

With files from The Associated Press