Claudia Kim Talks Auditions, Ezra Miller Defends Her Casting

SPOILERS AHEAD: PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Now that Claudia Kim’s Maledictus character has a name and the shocking news has been processed, Kim has opened up about how the creation and casting of her character occurred. Claudia Kim’s casting for this role has been under scrutiny since the nature of her character was revealed. J.K. Rowling addressed this controversy last month, and now Kim’s costar (with whom she shares a lot of screen time) Ezra Miller has come to her defense.

When she arrived in London to perform her final audition with director David Yates, all Kim knew about her character was what the world knew: a magical woman suffering from a blood curse. When Yates began the audition by dropping the name of the character, Kim – a longtime Harry Potter fan – instantly knew the importance of the character’s role in the film.

Yates then told Kim that acting the part – transforming from snake to human and back again – would include not only working with CGI but also the actor’s physical movements. Kim’s improv skills were put to the test when she was asked to give her best physical interpretation of transforming into a snake. Kim described this experience for Entertainment Weekly:

I instantly felt heartburn, and then two minutes later I had to become a snake. [It’s a] lot of insecurity. You have to empty your head and trust your instincts and stretch your imagination. I had to trust myself.

Once Kim was cast into the role, she was often directed to add more “snakiness” to her acting in certain scenes, which was tricky, but not the most challenging part of the role of Nagini. Claudia Kim is afraid of snakes. As a woman playing a snake, she had to overcome this fear… especially when her role required her to handle real-life snakes during a scene. We can’t wait to see that part in the film!

Despite some negative reactions from the fandom, Kim cannot wait for fans to meet Nagini. She describes her character as a woman whom everyone should meet with an open mind:

I think It would be so interesting to see another side of Nagini. You’ve only seen her as Horcrux. In this, she’s a wonderful and vulnerable woman who wants to live, she wants to stay a human being and I think that’s a wonderful contrast to the character.

 As for fan reactions to her casting, Ezra Miller and others close to the production said that Claudia Kim could not be more perfect and that they would hate to deny such a great actress this amazing and complex role simply because of her ethnicity.

Claudia Kim is a living god. You’re about to get your head blown off. There’s going to be a venom in your veins that you’ll feel just like love. Prepare yourselves for Nagini. This is a tragic and beautiful story that in some ways we already know the end of.

We are certainly excited to meet Nagini and discover her human side. What are you most interested to learn about Nagini? Do you still have concerns about this character? Let us know in the comments.