J.K. Rowling responds to Fantastic Beasts sequel casting controversy

THE Harry Potter author has responded after being criticised for a “garbage” decision in the new Fantastic Beasts movie.

J.K. Rowling has addressed claims that casting a South Korean woman as Nagini was a “garbage” decision. Credit: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File

AUTHOR J.K. Rowling has responded to the casting controversy surrounding the upcoming film Fantasic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

The new trailer for the upcoming film revealed Claudia Kim, a South Korean actress, will be portraying Nagini, a snake who serves as a slave to the villain Voldemort.

Claudia Kim will bring the snake to life.

MORE: Fantastic Beasts trailer confirms major fan theory

Rowling, the world-renowned author of the Harry Potter series, defended her decision to cast Kim as the snake. Rowling responded to a tweet from a social media user who said it was “garbage” to cast a Korean woman as a Nagini. Rowling wrote the movie’s screenplay and serves as a producer for the film.

“Listen Joanne, we get it, you didn’t include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage. Representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation,” a social media user tweeted to Rowling.

The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’ They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day 🐍

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 26, 2018

Rowling replied, “The Naga are snakelike mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’ They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day.”

Nagini tried to kill our hero Harry Potter in the original series.

The author also said the part was a “maledictus” or “a human transformed into an animal by a communicable blood curse,” Time reported.

“Maledictuses are always women, whereas werewolves can be either sex. The Maledictus carries a blood curse from birth, which is passed down from mother to daughter,” Rowling explained in a tweet.

This is not the first time the film has been criticised for its casting.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald received backlash over casting Johnny Depp in the film despite the domestic violence allegations made against him by his former wife Amber Heard.

This story originally appeared in Fox News and is republished here with permission.