HBO deployed a security team on the Harry Potter set after Paapa Essiedu received death threats just for being cast as Snape

HBO has deployed a security team on the set of its upcoming Harry Potter series after actor Paapa Essiedu, who is cast as Severus Snape, revealed he has been receiving death threats. The threats came simply because of his casting in the role.

Essiedu, who will play the iconic Potions professor at Hogwarts, shared that online trolls have been sending him deeply disturbing hate messages. “I’ve been told, ‘Quit, or I’ll murder you,'” Essiedu said.  According to Entertainment Weekly, he also said that when he looks at Instagram, he sees messages like, “I’m going to come to your house and kill you.”

HBO Network CEO Casey Bloys acknowledged the steps the network is taking. “With all actors on any kind of big IP shows, and this is obviously one of those where you’ve got, you know, passionate fans, people with a lot of opinions, it can get scary in places,” Bloys told Variety. He added that HBO anticipated these kinds of reactions and tried to prepare for them with training and best practices for social media.

The Harry Potter series is shaping up to be a major production despite the troubling start

HBO has also released the first official image from the highly anticipated Harry Potter series. The image gained nearly a million likes on Instagram and gave viewers a first look at Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, walking towards the Quidditch pitch in a red-and-gold Gryffindor cloak, with Hogwarts visible in the background.

HBO Max has also been making improvements to its platform lately, including a long-requested feature fans have wanted since 2020. The series is set for a 2027 release. Bloys said he is “thrilled with what I’ve seen” so far, pointing to the enduring popularity of the books, with parents who grew up with Harry Potter now wanting to share the story with their children.

From a creative standpoint, Bloys highlighted the advantage of the series format over films, saying it allows the story to “breathe a little bit more and explore the world a bit more,” rather than condensing an entire book into a couple of hours. The broader streaming landscape is also shifting, with one underdog service outperforming HBO Max and Peacock in ways few expected.

Beyond Essiedu and McLaughlin, the series features John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The security team on set is a necessary response to the very real threats being made against the cast, and it shows HBO is taking the situation seriously as production moves forward.