The icon said that actors like Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson should be allowed to have their say
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE BY BILLIE CHARITY/HAY FESTIVAL
Miriam Margolyes has spoken out in support of her fellow Harry Potter stars after they were told they shouldn’t criticise JK Rowling.
Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in the films based on Rowling’s books, said she didn’t think her co-stars should be prevented from showing support for the trans community simply because they were in the Harry Potter films.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all voiced support for the trans community after Rowling made some controversial comments about transgender women.
The three have been regularly criticised by fans of Harry Potter for speaking out against its author. Following the Cass Review in April 2024, one social media user posted to X about how the actors owed Rowling an apology. She responded by indicating she would not accept one if it were offered.
In an interview published by The Telegraph on 20 July, Margolyes said her co-stars should be able to have their opinions regardless of the projects they’ve worked on. “Why can’t they give their opinions?” she asked. “That’s fair to me. They shouldn’t be trammelled because they once were in a film that somebody wrote.”
She also voiced her own support for the trans community. “I just think people should be allowed to get on and be who they are, or be who they want to be, without all this nastiness.”
Rowling has attracted a lot of criticism for her views on gender identity. In 2020, she opposed Scotland’s gender recognition bill and published an essay on her website in which she wrote: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman… you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”
Radcliffe responded by saying transgender and non-binary people needed support and that we shouldn’t “invalidate their identities”. Watson said the trans community “deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned”. Meanwhile, Grint and several other stars of the Harry Potter universe, including Eddie Redmayne, said they disagreed with Rowling’s comments and reiterated that “trans women are women”.
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