--- description: "White skin was never specified" title: J.K. Rowling Endorses Black Hermione Granger in 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d22ec448062af0/69887643428a9ee89ecd0ab2/jk-rowling.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # J.K. Rowling Endorses Black Hermione Granger in _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_ by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 11:32 AM CUT  Author JK Rowling attends photocall ahead of her reading from 'The Casual Vacancy' at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sept. 27, 2012 in London, England. Author JK Rowling attends photocall ahead of her reading from 'The Casual Vacancy' at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sept. 27, 2012 in London, England.Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 11:32 AM CUT J.K. Rowling has endorsed the casting of black actress Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger in the London theater production of _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child._ When asked on Twitter what she thought of the choice, Rowling said that white skin was never specified in the novels and that she “loves black Hermoine.” > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/678888094339366914) The race of Hermione, who was played by Emma Watson in the film adaptations, was never described in the books. Rowling only said that she had bushy “brown hair and brown eyes.” Shortly after the[ casting announcement was made last night](http://time.com/4156583/harry-potter-hermione-granger-noma-dumezweni-theater/ "undefined"), the Swaziland-born actress Dumezweni remarked on Twitter about the reaction she was getting from _Harry Potter_ fans. > [](https://twitter.com/MissDumezweni/status/678718013693165568) The production — based on a story by Rowling and written by Jack Thorne — features Harry, Hermione and Ron as adults working at the Ministry of Magic. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4156751/jk-rowling-black-hermione-granger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4156751/jk-rowling-black-hermione-granger/"},"headline":"J.K. Rowling Endorses Black Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child","datePublished":"2015-12-21T11:32:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:32:19.546Z","description":"\"White skin was never specified\"","url":"https://time.com/4156751/jk-rowling-black-hermione-granger/","keywords":["celebrities","Books","Theater"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d22ec448062af0/69887643428a9ee89ecd0ab2/jk-rowling.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d22ec448062af0/69887643428a9ee89ecd0ab2/jk-rowling.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Author JK Rowling attends photocall ahead of her reading from 'The Casual Vacancy' at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sept. 27, 2012 in London, England.","caption":"Author JK Rowling attends photocall ahead of her reading from 'The Casual Vacancy' at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sept. 27, 2012 in London, England.","creditText":"Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4156751/jk-rowling-black-hermione-granger/","name":"J.K. Rowling Endorses Black Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"}}]}] ```