Noma Dumezweni: “Hermione Is Fascinating Because Every Girl Gets It”

Previews for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are now well underway, and while fans are keeping tight lipped about the content of the play, the reaction has been positive. The show does not officially open until the end of July, and in a new interview with the Sunday Times Culture Magazine, Noma Dumezweni spoke about her role as Hermione and embracing her true self. Unfortunately, the piece is behind a paywall, but we’ve gathered some of the highlights here for you.

The interview reveals that Dumezweni was first involved with the play because she was asked to help out the director, John Tiffany. As a Potter fan who read the books in her twenties, Dumezweni was able to persuade the team that she could take the role on.

I’d been thinking, it’s not gonna happen. […] It was a beautiful surprise, a lovely surprise.

Dumezweni went on to talk about how she has embraced her identity over the years and become more comfortable with herself.

Ten years ago, I may have looked at it with negativity and said, ‘well, I won’t get that part.’ This is a bonus. My colour is a bonus, and I am so blessed with that.

Dumezweni also touched on the importance of cultural representation.

We all want to see ourselves somewhere. You create negativity if you’ve got four people in a room and only three can see themselves represented in pictures and drawings and this and that. And the other person is going, where am I? The other three stop seeing that person because they’re not represented.

And finally, what makes Dumezweni Hermione?

I don’t know what traits they saw in me, but reading what Jack and John had written, it’s that bossy girl at school who’s trying to make things right in the world. Hermione is fascinating because every girl, every walk of life, every race, gets it – how do we go into the world? I want to go into the world the way she does. Am I brave enough to go through what she does? 

It couldn’t have been said better!

You can read MuggleNet’s spoiler-free reviews of Part 1 and Part 2.

Do you agree with Dumezweni’s views on Hermione? Are you looking forward to seeing her in Cursed Child? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!