Noma Dumezweni: Hermione Is “Out of My Comfort Zone”

As anyone who has seen the play can say, Noma Dumezweni’s Hermione brings an exciting extension to the character of Hermione we came to love in the Harry Potter books. However, it may surprise some fans that Dumezweni did not think she would ever get the role of the “brightest witch of her age.”

In an interview after her WhatsOnStage award win, Dumezweni said that she originally thought that she would just participate in the workshops for the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script.

I thought, ‘yeah, I’ll do a workshop. I’m not working at the moment, [so] let’s see what happens.’

Dumezweni also said that playing the role of Hermione was “out of her comfort zone” – but that playing such a role helps her creativity.

The world is an exciting place at the moment, weirdly enough because of all the chaos. With flux comes interesting creativity. I’m very lucky to be doing this.

And it seems that creativity has paid off, earning praise from J.K. Rowling, Emma Watson, and fans everywhere. Dumezweni may have been surprised to be given the role of Hermione, but we think her award for the performance is well deserved!

What is your favorite thing Dumezweni brought to the role of Hermione? Let us know below!