Cillian Murphy, I’m begging you to not be Voldemort

That Harry Potter show is still happening, despite J.K. Rowling’s rampant transphobia, and it has brought up a lot of issues—mainly with the casting and protecting the children who will end up thrown to the wolves as Harry Potter and his friends. But also the adult cast.

While most of us who are angry that the show is moving forward recognize that the children are not at fault, we can side-eye adults who are cast as the professors of Hogwarts. So far, no casting has been announced, but one “fan cast” is more terrifying than Professor Umbridge. According to NME, “fans” want Cillian Murphy to play Lord Voldemort. I’m going to have to politely beg him to do no such thing.

Murphy, who recently won an Oscar for his work in Oppenheimer, is at the height of the fancast chain. Prior to the announcement that fellow Oscar winner and Murphy’s co-star in Oppenheimer Robert Downey Jr. would play Victor Von Doom in the MCU, Murphy was the top pick.

My point being that people love to cast him as a villain, which is all fun and dandy but that doesn’t mean it is a great choice for Murphy. And I really do not think that Voldemort, in a show that will benefit a transphobe, is the right choice.

The way that Rowling is acting is forcing people to choose. At this point, unless the rights to Potter are no longer hers, she is going to benefit from the series. People will buy her books, buy her merch, and make her more money. So an actor would then have to take a stand either way: push back against the woman they’re making money for or stand with her transphobia.

Stop putting actors in this position

Look, I know that someone is going to have to play Voldemort. The show is moving forward. But why are people putting their favorite actors in this position? Do they need to see another take on Harry Potter so badly as to support this mess?

Reactions from “fans” talk about how perfect he’d be, and on the one hand, I get wanting a good actor as Voldemort. But also … he would not be a good Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort anyway. Murphy has the ability to play a lot of different roles, but I think that Voldemort would, frankly, be too boring of a villain for him. I’m sorry, but Voldemort is just not that deep of a character.

While I have moved on from my Harry Potter love, I have moments where I miss being able to talk about this series, but Rowling is the one who took that away from me. I have plenty of other things I love that I can talk about instead, which is why I don’t particularly care about this show either way. But I do care about actors I love dearly, and I don’t want to see their reputations ruined because of a show that no one particularly wanted.

So no, I don’t want Murphy as Voldemort. I think fans of Harry Potter might, but if you’re a Cillian Murphy fan, I don’t think you’d want to subject your fave to that kind of chaos, especially not with Rowling involved.