Trans advocates are disappointed that Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint will reprise the role of Ron Weasley in a 17-week run of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Grint – who played the character in all eight original Harry Potter films – originally worked to distance himself from author JK Rowling after she became publicly and virulently anti-trans.
Related
“I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers,” Grint said in a 2020 statement. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgement.”
The following year, he told Esquire that “to stay silent would have spoken.”
Insights for the LGBTQ+ community
Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
“Sometimes, silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to,” he said, adding that while he is “hugely grateful” to Rowling, he still disagrees with her anti-trans views.
As such, some are wondering why Grint has chosen to align himself with the author’s work yet again, especially considering Rowling is currently using her vast wealth, mostly accumulated through the success of her Harry Potter franchise and its many multimedia spinoffs, to personally fund legal cases aimed at diminishing rights and protections for transgender women in the U.K. and Ireland.
In short, a portion of the money Rowling earns from Harry Potter-related ventures is going directly to the anti-trans movement, which is why Grint’s participation in the Broadway show has sparked anger.
Them writer Mathew Rodriguez is one such advocate who called out the actor, saying he “certainly figured out how to use the invisibility cloak on his trans allyship.”
Many expressed similar dismay on social media.
a large part of the reason why rupert grint was cast is almost certainly bc of his history of the show. aka another broadway stuntcast in an attempt to sell more tickets. more ticket sales = more money to jkr = more money to jkr, who uses it to fund anti trans movements in the uk
— chris (@eriksnosecavity) August 26, 2026
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.