Was Severus Snape hot? This is the million-dollar — or perhaps, million-Galleon — question that sits at the heart of the Harry Potter franchise and plagues Reddit to this very day. Per J.K. Rowling’s original books, no. In fact, Rowling’s vision of Snape is that he’s one of the ugliest men of all time. He has greasy hair, sallow skin, and a hooked nose. In the film adaptations, Snape is played by Alan Rickman, an actor of formidable talent whose hotness was relative. If his stern gaze and deep voice worked for you, then boom: Snape hot.
What we’ve lacked up until now is any kind of affirmative proof or execution of Snape’s hotness. Anyone finding themselves attracted to him was otherwise incidental. With Deadline, however, reporting that character actor and undeniable hunk Paapa Essiedu might be closing in on the role in HBO’s forthcoming television adaptation of Rowling’s series, we may soon have to reckon with the notion of an objectively hot Snape.
Is Essiedu too hot to play Snape? The character actor broke big with his supporting turn on I May Destroy You as bestie Kwame, and he’s had his fair share of sultry roles in Gangs of London and The Lazarus Project. The whole premise of The Effect, the Lucy Prebble play that ran on the West End and at the Shed, was that meeting a guy like Essiedu during a prescription-medication trial could have you wondering to what extent a pill can make you fall in love. This is not a hottie to underestimate.
There’s no doubt that Essiedu has the gravitas and humor inherent to Snape — for all that the Potions Master was a relentless Harry Potter hater, he was also really funny in his disdain for children — but asserting Snape’s hotness may spark a whole new series of battles on whether or not Snape is a worthwhile crush in the Harry Potter community. Rather than get bogged down sexing up one of the least sexy literary characters of all time, Essiedu could play a whole new hunk each year that HBO’s new Potter series threatens to air. Should he go for the long-term gig (and the paycheck) that the television adaptation is sure to be luring beloved actors with, however, well … with a heavy heart, I must award ten points to Slytherin.