Noma Dumezweni has been racially abused on Twitter since she was cast as Hermione Granger in the new ‘Harry Potter’ play.
The 47-year-old actress is set to assume the role made famous by Emma Watson in the money-spinning film franchise, but the African-born star has revealed she has been subjected to online abuse since it was confirmed she is to star in the new West End production, ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’.
She said: "I’m not stupid, it’s a great story.
"I am a black woman who has been given this character called Hermione to play on the stage. But actually, we’ve all grown up with the books, with Emma Watson playing her in the films. Imagery is so strong."
Noma admitted that some of the abuse she has received via Twitter has upset her.
She told the Sunday Times newspaper: "My name is being tagged into stuff that’s not nice, that’s not nice.
"It’s ignorance. It drives me crazy. It’s a limitation. Because this is absolutely a different form."
Meanwhile, Noma admitted she still doesn’t know why the writers, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, decided to cast her in the production.
She said: "I don’t know what traits they saw in me, but reading what Jack and John had written, it’s that bossy girl at school who’s trying to make things right in the world."
However, the actress did explain that Hermione is fascinating "because every girl, every walk of life, every race, gets it – how do we go into the world? I want to go into the world the way she does. Am I brave enough to go through what she does?"
Noma Dumezweni reveals extent of Twitter abuse
