J.K. Rowling has drawn controversy over the casting a Korean actress to play Voldermort's snake, Nagini, in the upcoming "Fantastic Beasts" sequel, but the author deflected criticism on social media Wednesday.
Korean actress Claudia Kim was selected to play the villain's snake, which was revealed in the movie's latest trailer, Time reported.
Some viewers accused Rowling, who wrote the screenplay and produced the film, of halfheartedly attempting to make up for a lack of ethnic diversity in her books through the cast of the film.
"We get it, you didn't include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage," one Twitter user posted. "Representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation.
Rowling defended the film's casting in a tweet in which she explained that "the Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology."
She noted that the creatures are sometimes depicted as winged and sometimes as half-human, half-snake.
"Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi," Rowling said.
Some viewers were not satisfied with Rowling's comment.
"The thing is the greater underlying issue is about how non-white people, esp Asians, are frequently treated in the West. The anger over Nagini is just a way to express this," a Twitter user said.
This is the second time that the film has been criticized for its casting.
Earlier this year there was uproar when it was revealed that Johnny Depp, accused of domestic violence, would play Grindelwald — a decision which Rowling said she was "happy" with, according to BBC.
There were also mumblings when Rowling revealed that Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster and Harry Potter's mentor, was gay.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.