Actor Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter saga, could not resist and once again expressed his support toward well-known author J.K. Rowling. He did the same in 2021, when Rowling was under fire after posting the following thread on Twitter:
If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth.
- J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Two years later, the controversy generated by her opinions still haunts her. It is common to see a multitude of comments against her on social media, and she herself even claims that she has "now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them." This outrages Fiennes, as he acknowledged in one of his last interviews with The New York Times:
The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting, it’s appalling. I mean, I can understand a viewpoint that might be angry at what she says about women. But it’s not some obscene, über-right-wing fascist. It’s just a woman saying, ‘I’m a woman and I feel I’m a woman and I want to be able to say that I’m a woman.’ And I understand where she’s coming from. Even though I’m not a woman.
What really bothers Fiennes, however, is that Rowling's personal opinion, which he considers most valid, affects the legacy she had achieved with the saga starring the young wizard:
J.K. Rowling has written these great books about empowerment, about young children finding themselves as human beings, It’s about how you become a better, stronger, more morally centered human being.
This is something that, as the Lord Voldemort actor criticizes, is characteristic of the cancellation culture: "Righteous anger is righteous, but often it becomes kind of dumb because it can’t work its way through the gray areas. It has no nuance."
The cast of 'Harry Potter' is divided
The Lord Voldemort actor is not the only one to take a stand in Rowling's favor. Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy and the recently deceased Robbie Coltrane, who played Rubeus Hagrid also support the writer. In fact, Felton did not flinch and, in one of his interviews with The Times of London that was picked up by Fox News, he expressed his admiration for the writer.
I can't speak for what other individuals have said. I am constantly reminded that the Potter-verse, certainly when we were finishing the films, there was an expectation that the 'fandom' would be dwindling slowly over the years, whereas most fans that say hello to me, shout ‘Potter’ or ‘Draco’ at me weren't even born when the books were being made.
The rest of the young cast, on the other hand, was against it. The first to speak out was activist Emma Watson, who did not hesitate to respond to Rowling's post in 2020:
Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are.
- Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020
Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint also criticized J.K. Rowling's words. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, did so in a letter where he made his position on the controversy clear:
Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.
