‘Harry Potter’ Star Bel Powley Disagrees With Rowling on Trans Issue

According to Breitbart News, Powley, who will portray Petunia Dursley in the highly anticipated series, made her views known during an interview with the UK Telegraph. The 34-year-old actress joins a growing list of performers associated with the Potter universe who have criticised Rowling despite owing their careers to her creative work.

Rowling has been clear and consistent in her position: while she has no objection to adults making personal choices about their identity, she opposes allowing biological men into women-only spaces such as bathrooms and changing rooms, and rejects the participation of such individuals in women’s sports. These measured views have nonetheless made her a target of radical transgender activists and their allies in the entertainment industry.

Potter Cast Member Attacks Source of Her Fame

In her Telegraph interview, Powley stated she believes the trans community deserves safety, dignity, respect and total acceptance. Yet she acknowledged her love for the Harry Potter books, on which she grew up as part of the first generation of readers.

The contradiction appears lost on Powley and others who eagerly accept roles in projects based entirely on Rowling’s intellectual property while simultaneously condemning the woman who created the world that now employs them.

Rowling Responds to Years of Attacks

Rowling has faced these attacks from Potter alumni for years. In 2025, she delivered a pointed response to actress Emma Watson, who portrayed Hermione Granger in the film series, as Breitbart News reports. Watson, who became a globally recognised multi-millionaire solely through her association with Rowling’s work, had taken aim at the author.

Rowling did not hold back in her response, noting that Watson and others cushioned by wealth and fame from an early age lack real-world experience. She asked whether Watson had ever faced the prospect of undressing in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a public swimming pool, or whether she might need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service.

The author reminded Watson that unlike the actress, she was not a multimillionaire at fourteen. Rowling lived in poverty while writing the book that made Watson famous, and therefore understands what the erosion of women’s rights means to those without Watson’s privileges.

Rowling concluded her response by noting that adults cannot align themselves with an activist movement that regularly calls for her assassination, then claim a right to her affection as though she were their mother.

Co-Star Also Signals Virtue

John Lithgow, cast as Albus Dumbledore in the HBO series, has similarly attacked Rowling’s position, which he called inexplicable. Speaking to The New Yorker Radio Hour, Lithgow revealed he even considered rejecting the role due to his distaste for Rowling’s views, as reported by Breitbart News.

Lithgow claimed the reasons to accept the part were much stronger than the reasons to protest, adding that he disagrees with much of what Rowling has said, though he believes some of it has been twisted and misrepresented.

The spectacle of wealthy actors condemning the creator whose work provides their paycheque continues unabated as HBO’s Potter series moves toward production.

With information from Breitbart News