Harry Potter star Ralph Fiennes just backed this queer icon to play Voldemort
Ralph Fiennes (Image: Getty Images)
Ralph Fiennes has said he thinks the “ship has sailed” on him returning as Lord Voldemort, and suggested queer icon Tilda Swinton would be “amazing” and “fantastic” in the role for HBO Max’s controversial Harry Potter TV adaptation.
Speaking on BBC’s The Claudia Winkleman Show, the 63-year-old reflected on being asked in the past about reprising the part He said: “I remember being asked the question, would I reprise the part? This was some years ago. And I said, ‘yes, I’d love to.’”
Fiennes added: “But then, nothing’s happened. I think that ship has sailed. But I tell you, Tilda Swinton was mentioned somewhere as being a contender, and I think she would be amazing. She would be fantastic.”
Swinton and Cillian Murphy are reportedly among those rumoured to be in the mix to take on the villain in the new series. However Murphy previously categorically denied he was taking over the role.
Of course, given Swinton’s status as a queer icon, it likely wouldn’t go down well with fans.
HBO’s Harry Potter reboot
Fiennes played Harry Potter’s nemesis in five films from 2005 to 2011. The first season of the TV version is set to arrive this Christmas on HBO Max, adapted from Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.
JK Rowling, who wrote the books, is an executive producer on the show, which has caused controversy among some people.
Many stars of the reboot have been asked about the decision to take their role, considering Rowling’s controversial and vocal views on trans people.
Tilda Swinton as a queer icon
Tilda Swinton has long been considered a queer icon, due to their androgynous style.
However in 2021, Swinton said that she was queer. She told British Vogue: “I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility.
“I always felt I was queer – I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it. And having found it, it’s my world.
She also discussed gender back in 2009, when she played a man and a woman in the film Orlando, saying: “My idea of identity is that I’m not sure it really exists.
“I’ve examined this idea laterally since Orlando and other pieces of work that I’ve made, when I’ve played with the idea of transformative gender… That whole idea of transformation is at the heart of what I’m interested in as a performer and not least through the idea of gender. It’s a very personal matter.
“I can categorically say that as Orlando does in the film: Yes, I’m probably a woman.”
She added: “I don’t know if I could ever really say that I was a girl – I was kind of a boy for a long time. I don’t know, who knows? It changes.”
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