These are the 'Harry Potter' actors defending (or criticizing) JK Rowling
| 04/17/25
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From left: Harry Potter actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, David Tennant, and Bonnie Wright.Fred Duval/Shutterstock; Ron Adar/Shutterstock; Eugene Powers/Shutterstock; DFree/ShutterstockHarry Potter author JK Rowling has been spreading TERF rhetoric for years, but now she’s making headlines for celebrating an anti-trans U.K. Supreme Court ruling that is poised to do real harm to trans women.
According to Newsweek, the U.K.’s top court unanimously ruled on Wednesday that transgender women are not included in the legal definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010, and Rowling immediately started celebrating on social media. She has since made multiple posts, including posting a photo of herself smoking a cigar with the caption, “I love it when a plan comes together,” alluding to the money she donated to support the long-running legal saga.
Rowling’s near-constant deluge of outspoken anti-trans views has inspired many of the stars of the Harry Potter franchise to speak out against her, including everyone from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Eddie Redmayne, and David Tennant.
So here are all of the stars who have spoken out against Rowling, and a few who have sadly defended her transphobia.
Daniel Radcliffe
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has been speaking out against Rowling’s transphobic comments for years — including issuing a statement through the Trevor Project saying “transgender women are women." Last year in an interview with the Atlantic he took the opportunity to let fans know that he doesn’t agree with Rowling’s views on trans women and how “sad” it makes him that she could do this after creating a “deeply empathetic” world with her novels.
“I’d worked with the Trevor Project for 12 years and it would have seemed like, I don’t know, immense cowardice to me to not say something,” Radcliffe told the Atlantic. “I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments. And to say that if those are Jo’s views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the ‘Potter’ franchise.”
Emma Watson
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After Rowling published her five-point essay on trans activism, Emma Watson — who played Hermione and once sported a “Trans rights are human rights” T-shirt — took to X (formerly Twitter) to let her fans know she vehemently disagreed with Rowling’s stance. "Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,” she wrote. “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”
Rupert Grint
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Ron Weasley actor Rupert Grint has not been quiet about his thoughts on Rowling’s transphobia. He released an initial statement back in 2020 alongside Radcliffe and Watson, but has continued to speak out since then. "I am hugely grateful (for) everything that she's done. I think that she's extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius. But yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that.”
He continued, ”I think to stay silent would have spoke. Sometimes, silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to."
Eddie Redmayne
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Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne released a statement back in 2020 condemning Rowling’s anti-trans views. “As someone who has worked with both J.K. Rowling and members of the trans community, I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand,” his statement read. “I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid. I would never want to speak on behalf of the community but I do know that my dear transgender friends and colleagues are tired of this constant questioning of their identities, which all too often results in violence and abuse. They simply want to live their lives peacefully, and it’s time to let them do so.”
Bonnie Wright
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Back in 2020, when Rowling first started ramping up her trans hate, Ginny Weasley actress Bonnie Wright posted her thoughts on X (formerly Twitter). “If Harry Potter was a source of love and belonging for you, that love is infinite and there to take without judgment or question. Trans women are women. I see and love you,” she wrote.
Then in 2022, in an interview with The Sunday Times, she said she still held the same views as before but wasn’t interested in continuing to talk about it. “I made that comment then and I still stand with that same feeling,” she says, “but it’s got to the point where I prefer not to comment more. It’s a subject outside of my input.”
Katie Leung
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When Harry Potter readers started complaining about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the franchise and how lazy Cho Chang’s name is, Katie Leung (who played Cho) wrote on X (formerly Twitter),” So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes…” but instead of sharing her opinion on the name, she instead linked to organizations helping the Black trans community as a subtle dig at Rowling’s hateful views, The Independent reported.
Chris Rankin
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In 2021, Chris Rankin, who played Percy Weasley in the franchise, responded to Rowling’s anti-trans statements in an interview with the Eastern Daily Press. “I do a lot of work with charities that are LGBTQ+-focused and I raise money for the Albert Kennedy Trust on a regular basis,” he said. “A lot of my family are members of the community. It is a huge part of my life and I think, by saying that, you can probably guess where my allegiances lie in that respect.”
He continued, “What is important to highlight is that, when a trans person says they are male or female, that is what they are and that is how we should treat them. It is damaging to them to say otherwise.”
Harry Melling
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In an interview with The Independent in 2022, Dudley Dursley actor Hary Melling said that his views on trans rights are very simple. ”I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple, which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men. Every single person has the right to choose who they are and to identify themselves as what's true to themselves," he said. "I don't want to join the debate of pointing fingers and saying, 'That's right, that's wrong,' because I don't think I'm the correct spokesperson for that," added Melling. "But I do believe that everybody has the right to choose."
David Tennant
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David Tennant, who played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter, has had a long-standing feud with Rowling because he is a staunch supporter of trans rights, and Rowling can’t stop expressing her transphobic views and financially supporting anti-trans causes. Tennant has openly supported trans rights over and over again, including wearing a trans ally T-shirt reading, "You will have to go through me,” and speaking out against anti-trans UK politicians, but last month he made a subtle jab directly at Rowling and her upcoming Harry Potter TV series. When asked if he was going to act in the upcoming show, he responded, "I mean, they're great stories. I feel like my contribution has probably been made. I'm told there's an executive producer who doesn't love me on that show,” Metro reported.
Stars who have defended JK Rowling
Jim Broadbent
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In 2023, Horace Slughorn actor Jim Broadbent told The Telegraph about the backlash against Rowling, “I think J.K. Rowling is amazing. I haven’t had to confront [the backlash] myself, but I would support her in that, I think, if it came to it.”
Robbie Coltrane
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Hagrid actor Robbie Coltrane may be best known for playing a gentle giant, but he came to Rowling’s defense back in 2020 when the Harry Potter author started spewing anti-trans hate.
"I don’t think what she said was offensive really. I don’t know why but there’s a whole Twitter generation of people who hang around waiting to be offended," Coltrane said in interview with Radio Times when asked about the allegations of transphobia that are being pointed at Rowling. "They wouldn’t have won the war, would they? That’s me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, 'Oh, get over yourself. Wise up, stand up straight and carry on.'"
Ralph Fiennes
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Ralph Fiennes played the Harry Potter franchise’s main villain Voldemort and has also been an outspoken supporter of Rowling and her hateful views. In an interview with The Telegraph in 2021, Fiennes complained about “cancel culture” and voiced his frustration about the way Rowling was being treated.
"I can’t understand the vitriol directed at her," Fiennes said. "I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to condemn irrational. I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing."
Helena Bonham Carter
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Living up to her role as villain Bellatrix Lestrange, Helena Bonham Carter defended Rowling's anti-trans views back in 2022 in an interview with the Sunday Times.
“It’s horrendous, a load of bollocks,” said Bonham Carter. “I think she has been hounded. It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse. Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain. You don’t all have to agree on everything – that would be insane and boring. She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.”
John Cleese
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John Cleese, who played Nearly Headless Nick in the Harry Potter series, posted a series of transphobic tweets in response to people questioning his position on Rowling’s anti-trans views. “I’m afraid I’m not that interested in trans folks. I just hope they’re happy and that people treat them kindly. Right now I’m more focussed [sic] on threats to democracy in America, the rampant corruption in the UK, the appalling British press, the revelations about police brutality…,” he wrote in one tweet per Variety.
He responded to another question about his views with a follow up post: “Yes, my understanding is superficial. One thing: When a woman who was once a man is competing against women who have always been women, I think she has an advantage, because she inherited a man’s body, which is usually bigger and stronger than a woman’s. Does that prove phobia?”
