“Heartstopper” Star Sebastian Croft Apologises For Project With JK Rowling
Heartstopper has been one of the most loved new LGBTQIA+ series to come out in the last few years and has launched its young stars into fame and the headlines. Sebastian Croft is one such actor who has experienced more notoriety since the first season of the series and added scrutiny.
The young actor has addressed the backlash he’s received after signing on to be a voice actor for a Harry Potter video game called Hogwarts Legacy, reports Insider.
TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY
Sebastian Croft plays Ben Hope in the Heartstopper series, a closeted gay teen who lashes out in frustration at being gay. One of the most appreciated aspects of the casting is real LGBTQIA+ actors being chosen to play the queer characters. Sebastian Croft has not identified his sexuality – as is his right – but he has never shied away from being an ally of the community, reports TV Over Mind.
Since Croft signed on to voice Harry Potter in the Hogwarts Legacy game, fans have expressed disappointment. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter is a beloved fictional world despite the author’s unsavoury opinions about transgender women. Choosing to join a project with Rowling has not gone unnoticed by Croft’s Heartstopper fans who find it disappointing that he would work with someone the LGBTQIA+ community doesn’t support.
Although the internet, specifically Twitter, can be a harsh and unforgiving space, Sebastian Croft decided to respond to the backlash via his Twitter account. “I was cast in this project over 3 years ago, back when all Harry Potter was to me, was the magical world I grew up with,” he says. “This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views. I believe whole heartedly that trans women are women and trans men are men.”
Continuing a thread of addressing the scandal, Croft says, “I know far more now than I did 3 years ago, and hope to learn far more in the next 3. I’m really sorry to anyone hurt by this announcement. There is no LGB without the T.”
DNA OPINION
As radically important as it is to call out allies for trans-exclusionary practices – accidental or intentional – it is a good first step for Sebastian Croft to address the incident and apologise. Only the trans community has the power to condemn or forgive him.
The internet has a habit of piling on, and if there was anything to be learned from Kit Connor’s exit from Twitter, it’s that these young actors should be given room to learn, grow and change.
