Johnny Flynn Addresses JK Rowling Controversy Ahead Of Harry Potter Role

Harry Potter newcomer Johnny Flynn is addressing the backlash surrounding JK Rowling after he accepted a role in the latest adaptation of her novels.

Johnny is set to play Lucius Malfoy in HBO’s new Harry Potter TV show, which will dedicate one season to each of Rowling’s books.

Since the project was announced, several cast members have received backlash for accepting roles in the series due to the author’s involvement as an executive producer, as she has become a polarising figure in recent years due to her commentary on issues relating to transgender people.

This has included – but is not limited to – deliberately and repeatedly misgendering transgender public figures, and donating tens of thousands of pounds to the campaign group which raised the initial legal challenge that led to the UK Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling that the legal definition of a woman should include only those who were assigned female at birth.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Johnny was asked about the new Harry Potter series and raised the issue of Rowling himself.

“Obviously, there’s quite a lot of stuff around Jo Rowling,” he began. “I suppose that’s been quite interesting to navigate, the conversations there – but all important conversations to have.

“The people working on this are really, really great and create a really special atmosphere, [like] Francesca [Gardiner] the showrunner, and Mark Mylod and various directors. There’s such care.”

He pointed out that his character is “hardly in book one”, meaning his appearances in season one are limited, although he insisted the show has “such a welcoming environment” on set.

Among the prolific names already cast in the Harry Potter series are John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

Shortly after John’s casting was announced, the two-time Oscar nominee admitted he was “absolutely not” expecting the backlash he received for accepting the role of Dumbledore, pondering: “I wonder how JK Rowling has absorbed it. I suppose at a certain point I’ll meet her and I’m curious to talk to her.”

More recently, the Conclave star told The Hollywood Reporter of the controversy: “I take the subject and the issue extremely seriously.

“JK Rowling has created this amazing canon for young people, young kids’ literature that has jumped into the consciousness of society. Young and old people love Harry Potter and the Harry Potter stories. It’s so much about acceptance. It’s about good versus evil. It’s about kindness versus cruelty. It’s deeply felt.”

He added that, because of this, he found Rowling expressing “such views” on transgender people both “ironic and somewhat inexplicable”.

Meanwhile, after ruffling feathers with his own casting, Nick Frost insisted last year that his and Rowling’s views on the trans community are markedly different.

“She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine,” he insisted. “They just don’t align in any way, shape or form.”