Harry Potter and the Cursed Child star Rakie Ayola has told Newsweek that she would love to sit down with J.K. Rowling to discuss her controversial statements about transgender people—but she doesn't think the author cares what she thinks.
Ayola is an award-winning Welsh actor known for her work in theater and television, including the BBC drama Anthony and the series The Pact. She now stars in the Netflix series Kaos, a modern-day retelling of Greek mythology that blends humor and drama. Ayola plays Persephone, queen of the underworld, opposite David Thewlis, who plays her husband, Hades. Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus and Janet McTeer plays Hera.
In 2017, the 56-year-old took over the role of Hermione Granger in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and has met Rowling once before. The author has gained notoriety in more recent years for expressing her contentious opinions on transgender people, which some LGBTQ+ activists have labeled as "transphobic," a term Rowling has always refuted.
Ayola expressed confusion over why the topic of transgender people seems to take up so much of Rowling's time.
A spokesperson for Rowling declined to comment when approached for comment by Newsweek via email on Friday.
"I'm not naïve enough that I don't recognize the conversation, of course, I recognize it, how could I not? But I'm just really curious to know why I personally don't feel like I hear from her unless it's to talk about trans people and their rights or not," Ayola told Newsweek.
"I sort of—so that's why I'm curious I just, I don't understand what's concerning her the rest of the time, is this the only thing? I, of course, recognize women have fought very, very hard for the rights that we have and the fear that they will be taken away is very real. I'm not naïve enough not to recognize that. But I just sometimes think, people are just trying to live their lives. Most people are trying to live their lives in a way that makes them some kind of happy."
Rowling has drawn a fierce backlash in recent years for her views on transgender people, including suggestions that she has "ruined her legacy" with her comments.
She has previously been called out for calling transgender people by the wrong pronouns, such as English news broadcaster India Willoughby, and accused of bullying transgender soccer team manager Lucy Clark.
In September, Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint in France for alleged cyber harassment over statements regarding her gender. Rowling was among those who slammed Khelif's inclusion in the Olympics, incorrectly referring to the boxer as a "man."
Harry Potter actors Daniel Radcliffe, Bonnie Wright, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson—who played Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione in the movies—have also denounced Rowling because of her views, with the writer not included in the 2022 Harry Potter Reunion Special.
Ayola told Newsweek that "there will always be bad people" who will find ways to do "bad things" but that doesn't mean we can criticize a whole group of people because of the actions of some.
"There are dangerous people everywhere but we can't allow ourselves to decide that the dangerous people represent all of their group, all of their community, all of their, whatever it be—all of their gender, all of their sexuality, all of their ethnicity, whatever it is we're talking about," she said.
"If we allow ourselves to believe that the bad people are the people, I don't know how we get out of bed. There are really cruel horrible people and I feel like every day I put on my, I turn on my phone and I think, 'I want one day when the first thing I see isn't the worst of humanity.'
"And I know that we don't want to make things easier for the worst of humanity, but we can't allow other people who just want to live their lives to be defined by that. We have to be better than that. We have to be braver than that. And I know it's hard."
The Kaos actor added: "My goodness, it's so hard right now to make sure that you don't end up sort of damning a whole bunch of people because of the actions of some. It's really difficult. But we have to."
The actor also theorized that if Rowling's team read her comments they would think, "Why on earth does Rakie think that J.K. Rowling is going to care." However, that hasn't stopped Ayola from wanting to discuss these issues with Rowling.
"She's not going to talk to me, she doesn't care what I think," she said.
"We met once when I was doing Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and it was like meeting the queen. She was very, very friendly but the principal cast were taken into a room and she was there with her husband and her daughter I think. And it really was like a private audience with the queen. It wasn't even the whole cast, it was just like three of us," she said.
"I might get a phone call saying 'Will you please stop talking about her' but it's only because people keep asking me [about her].
"She doesn't care what I think, that's it. I'm just like, please be mindful of the people who are just trying to live their lives, just be mindful of them."
