Jason Isaacs has said that he won't publicly criticise JK Rowling over her views on trans rights as he does not wish to undermine her 'unequivocally good' charity work.
Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in seven of the Harry Potter movies, explained that while some of Rowling's opinions 'differ' from his own, he believed that to publicly speak out against the author without talking to her first would be unfair, given the fact that she has 'poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place'.
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Citing Rowling's children's charity, Lumos, Isaacs said:
Many of us Harry Potter actors have worked for it, and seen on the ground the work that they do.
So for all that she has said some very controversial things, I was not going to be jumping to stab her in the front – or back – without a conversation with her, which I've not managed to have yet.
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Rowling's views on transgender people have been condemned by many LGBTQ+ activists as transphobic, and her comments have led several of the Harry Potter cast to distances themselves from the author, including its main stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who have each spoken up in support of the trans community.
However, despite having used his platform to speak out on a variety of political issues, Isaacs said that he preferred to avoid the debate over trans rights, describing it as an 'extraordinary minefield'.
'She has her opinions, I have mine. They differ in many different areas,' he told The Telegraph.
The actor also referred to comments made by Jon Stewart about the Gringotts goblins – which were used by many on social media to accuse Rowling of antisemitism (something Stewart said he had not intended) – as an example of the internet blowing things out of proportion, saying, 'If you watch Stewart's broadcast, it was meant to be funny.'
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Isaacs added that he believed social media was having a negative effect on the ability to debate controversial issues, saying that 'you have to be wary' about what you say on platforms like Twitter.
'I think it's one of the reasons there's been this huge growth in WhatsApp groups,' he said. 'A lot of the energy I used to put into Twitter now goes into groups with friends instead.'
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Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, LGBTQ
Hannah Smith