J.K. Rowling responds to 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel casting controversy
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}J.K. Rowling defended her decision to cast a South Korean woman in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” (Reuters)
Author J.K. Rowling responded to the casting controversy surrounding the upcoming film “Fantasic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” on Wednesday.
The newly released trailer for the upcoming film revealed Claudia Kim, a South Korean actress, will be portraying Nagini, a snake who serves as a slave to the villain Voldemort.
Rowling, the world-renowned author of the “Harry Potter” series, defended her decision to cast Kim as the snake. Rowling responded to a tweet from a social media user who said it was “garbage” to cast a Korean woman as a Nagini. Rowling wrote the movie’s screenplay and serves as a producer for the film.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}‘FANTASTIC BEASTS 2’ PHOTO SPARKS OUTRAGE ABOUT JOHNNY DEPP’S ROLE IN THE FILM
“Listen Joanne, we get it, you didn’t include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage. Representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation,” a social media user tweeted to Rowling.
Rowling replied, “The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’ They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The author also said the part was a “maledictus” or “a human transformed into an animal by a communicable blood curse,” Time reported.
J.K. ROWLING DEFENDS CASTING JOHNNY DEPP IN ‘FANTASTIC BEASTS’
“Maledictuses are always women, whereas werewolves can be either sex. The Maledictus carries a blood curse from birth, which is passed down from mother to daughter,” Rowling explained in a tweet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is not the first time the film has been criticized for its casting.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” received backlash over casting Johnny Depp in the film despite the domestic violence allegations made against him by his former wife Amber Heard.