Emma Watson has been the face of Hermione Granger in the infamous "Harry Potter" franchise since 2001. Watson played the part of a girl brave enough to follow her friends into life threatening situations and smart enough to get her and her company out of them. Every girl, no matter how old, deserves to see a girl like Hermione in the media.
But now there is a new face for Hermione Granger. The Cursed Child a play, by J.K. Rowling, the same author who wrote the Harry Potter book. The Cursed Child takes place sometime after the end of the original series when the trio: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger have grown up and have jobs and children. The play’s crew does not have any of the original cast and it is the casting of Hermione Granger that has caused the most buzz.
Noma Dumezweni does not bare too much resemblance to the fair skinned Emma Watson, but that wasn’t really what the casting directors were looking for when they were looking for someone to play Hermione Granger. J.K. Rowling herself took to Twitter, shutting down a racist comment about Dumesweni saying: “We found the best actress and she's black. Bye bye, now.” She had tweeted even earlier: “Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione.” And why shouldn’t she? She’s been able to create a character that any girl, of any nationality, can see themselves in. A girl with dark hair and dark eyes. Even if it was not intentional, it’s still pretty cool.
Even Emma Watson, the actress who portrayed Hermione Granger in all eight "Harry Potter" movies took to Twitter saying: "Can't wait to see Noma Dumezweni as Hermione on stage this year."
Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the original films, made a good point when he tweeted "And Neville Longbottom was blonde. I really don't care. Good luck to her." You have to understand that in the books Neville Longbotton had blonde hair, Matthew Lewis is a brunette and while many of the "Harry Potter" cast died their hair or wore wigs Lewis didn't do either.
You see, whenever a book, or any form of media, is taken to the big screen there are always discrepancies and cast directors are never going to be able to find an actor that looks just like the character they're playing.
So why are fans upset about Noma Dumesweni? Apparently, she's a great actress and she even has the support of the original cast. What's not to love? It's hard to imagine people getting angry over the appearance of a character whose skin color was never disclosed. Let's face it, is Hermione Granger's skin color really that important? Shouldn't they just be overjoyed that they get another look into the magical world J.K. Rowling created?
The fact of the matter is, every girl should have a character like Hermione Granger to look up to or, better yet, to see themselves in. A role model who is smart, confident, logical, good and brave. And now, they can.
