Ralph Fiennes Stands Up for JK Rowling in the Wild Trans Debate
Ralph Fiennes, the famed actor who brought Voldemort to life, recently took the stage—well, the newsroom—in the New York Times to defend JK Rowling. While the 59‑year‑old acclaimed the fictional wizard with a hot‑hot, disapproving attitude, he took issue with the vitriol flung at his writer‑turned‑publicist.
The Points of Contention
Rowling, 57, has been the target of a deluge of online abuse since 2020, when her comments about the changing language on “biological women” ignited a firestorm. She famously quipped about “people who menstruate” and tried to find a new word, laughing, “Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”—an invitation to the internet’s why‑does‑this‑happen crowd.
Other Potter stars, like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, joined the conversation, and the conversation even snagged Eddie Redmayne, whose work on Fantastic Beasts had earned her praise earlier.
Fiennes’ Take
“The verbal abuse here is downright disgusting,” Fiennes told the Times. “I can see why people might feel angry at what she says about women, but it’s not some anonymous, shadowy Right‑wing cult. It’s just a woman making a personal statement.”
He goes on to note that the core of Rowling’s books is empowerment: “It’s about kids finding themselves as human beings, becoming stronger, more morally centered.” Even if he’s not a woman, Fiennes feels she’s proving a point that a woman wants to identify her own gender without fear.
Who’s Not Laughing?
- Hannah, 64 – The singer‑writer Billy Bragg tore the conversation down, accusing Rowling of saying “the Holocaust is used to attack feminists.”
- Graham Norton – The BBC chat show host, a lanky neck‑stretched bearded man, also joined the chorus shouting that “women should define what it means to be a woman.”
It’s a battle of voices; one, a sprightly fictional boy wizard, and another, a living‑life writer, clashing with the modern‑day social media mob.
Resilience, Resentment, and the Real Deal
What’s clear is that Fiennes is not ready to let a single opinion kill a writer who has given the world an unforgettable set of books. He’s saying, with a wink and a bit of humor, that the conversation, while heated, matters. And that, at its heart, it’s all about how we see ourselves and how we respect others.
