Harry Potter Star Says Their Character “Racist” (and They Have a Point)

The Harry Potter series is full of colorful villains, and the actors cast to play them understood the assignment — especially Jason Isaacs. The actor recently joined the Awards Chatter podcast for a discussion of his broad-ranging career, from Harry Potter to The OA to White Lotus. He said that he always viewed his character, Lucius Malfoy, as a hateful bigot for his support of the “pure-blood” supremacy in the Wizarding World. That said, Isaacs did his best to bring something authentic to the performance, without shying away from the real evil motivating his character. He even highlighted some of the real-world parallels that fans may not want to grapple with.

Isaacs said he dug deep to find something he had in common with Lucius Malfoy and bring the character to life. “He came from a loveless home, and I came from a long, unbroken chain of loveless parenting,” he explained. “And to play that popinjay and that racist, it might be magical, but the parallels are pretty transparent: someone who doesn’t think that Muggles should mix blood with wizards, and somebody trying to make Hogwarts great again.”

Isaacs also said that he is “repulsed” by the term “franchise,” feeling that it has a consumerist connotation. “As much as it was fantastical, I always take the acting incredibly seriously,” he said. “My job wasn’t being in a franchise. My job was trying to explain to the audience why Draco was such a little s— at school.”

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Still, when reflecting on the performance, he recalled times when playing Lucius made him genuinely emotional. His prime example was in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, “when [Ralph Fiennes] was around bullying me as Voldemort, humiliating me, and snapping my wand at my table, [it] felt like being castrated in front of my family. It was heartbreaking and humiliating. I don’t know how to phone a performance in, really. That felt like serious acting. It didn’t feel like we were in something silly.”

The Harry Potter books and movies may not have used terms like “racist” to describe the “pure-blood” supremacy movement that Voldemort led, but Isaacs is right that the comparison is very clear. The story is even full of allusions to the Holocaust and other xenophobic campaigns. For some, it’s shocking to hear these kinds of real-world parallels pointed out, while for others, it’s the entire point of good storytelling.

Isaacs just wrapped up a lauded performance on HBO’s The White Lotus, which is streaming now on Max. All 11 movies in the Harry Potter franchise are streaming there now as well.