Harry Potter star on JK Rowling’s trans views: ‘I don’t understand who she is on Twitter’
Jason Isaacs was careful in his answer when asked about JK Rowling (Araya Doheny/Getty Images for HBO)
Jason Isaacs was careful in his answer when asked about JK Rowling (Araya Doheny/Getty Images for HBO)
Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs has shut down questions about author JK Rowling’s anti-trans views, but said if there is a vote on the issue, he knows “which side I’ll be voting”.
The 62-year-old The White Lotus actor, who played Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy in the original Harry Potter films, discussed Rowling’s views on the transgender community for a feature in Vulture.
In the in-depth interview carried out by with Andrew Goldman, Issacs was asked what his views are on Rowling’s anti-trans campaigning.
“You’re asking me to be Jo’s spokesperson and unpack what’s going on in Jo’s head?” he asked.
“No, I just assumed you have a relationship with her and wondered if you had an opinion,” Goldman responded.
“I’ve met her once for about two minutes.”
“Really?” Goldman asked.
“That was it,” Issacs confirmed, saying he worked for Rowling’s charity Lumos.
“People want me to talk about JK Rowling’s attitude to trans people all the time. And initially, I went, ‘I don’t know her well enough, and I’m a straight white man in late middle age, and it’s not for me to opine on feminist and trans issues.'”
“But then I championed this fabulous trans comedian, Jordan Gray, and wrote about her, and I suddenly became a poster boy for trans rights.”
Isaacs said his support was interpreted as “me putting the knife into Jo, and it wasn’t”.
“I don’t understand who she is on Twitter. But then that’s true of almost anybody online. It’s a place where people scream abuse at each other,” he explained.
“And I’ve heard her arguments when she explained herself in that seven-part podcast, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, which I listened to.
“She says in that something like, ‘I may be on the wrong side of history, but this is what I feel very strongly.’ It’s not my argument or discussion to have. But if there’s a vote, I know which side I’ll be voting.”
Isaacs’ remarks come after he defended Tom Felton, who played his on-screen son Draco in the original Harry Potter films, for recent red carpet comments about Rowling.
After it was announced 37-year-old Felton would be reprising his original role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, the actor was asked about Rowling on the red carpet at the Tony Awards.
Tom Felton says the controversy around J.K. Rowling's political views doesn't impact him: "I'm not really that attuned to it…I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. She's responsible for that, so I'm incredibly grateful." #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/T7KSMNbFds
— Variety (@Variety) June 8, 2025
Felton was asked whether JK Rowling’s views impacted him or his work in the franchise, he responded: “No, I can’t say it does.”
“I’m not really that attuned to it,” he continued.
“The only thing I always remind myself is that I have been lucky enough to travel the world. Here I am in New York, and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. She’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
Felton’s perspective was labelled as “tone deaf”, showcasing his “privilege” as a cis man in the face of the abuse trans people are dealing with.
Isaacs seemingly gave Felton his support, writing on Instagram that he had already booked tickets to see him in the show on Broadway in November.
