This One Simple Trick Will Prevent You From Being Cast in the Harry Potter Show

There’s one way to guarantee you won’t get cast in the new HBO adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter septology, and that’s by speaking out about the British author’s victory lap after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that gender can only be determined by biology. In the aftermath of the decision, Rowling has — as she is wont to do — posted relentlessly on Twitter about the victory, chalking up the decision as the result of work done by “three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them.” Later, she posted a photo of herself smoking a cigar (and NOT a blunt, as she later clarified, while also making a dig at trans identity in the process of issuing the addendum) on a boat somewhere, maybe on the way to Azkaban.

In the days that have followed the April 16 ruling, a number of celebrities have spoken out, including Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan and Charitha Chandran, as well as SNL and The Wedding Banquet’s Bowen Yang, announcing their support for the trans community and criticizing Rowling for her hand in the process. Coughlan posted a long Instagram Story in which she said, “You’re not fighting for women’s rights. You don’t speak for me. Bigotry is bigotry.” The actor also announced she was raising money for Not a Phase, a U.K.-based trans charity, and shared two different posts about Rowling’s financial contribution to the For Women Scotland movement. “Keep your new Harry Potter lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole,” she added.

Her co-star Chandran posted a now-viral TikTok captioned “Loser behaviour to target an already vulnerable and oppressed group tbh” in which she said, “My womanhood has never felt threatened by trans women, ever, and if your womanhood has, I think that speaks more to the fragility of your womanhood than anything about trans women.” The three stars of the original Harry Potter films — Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson — have all spoken up over the years about their support for the trans community in light of Rowling’s continued comments. Yang, to his credit, kept it succinct on his own Instagram Story with an “absolute f*ck u to jk rowling” and a trans flag. If there’s one thing Rowling may never understand, it’s the power of brevity.

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