Pakistan, Nov. 12 -- Paapa Essiedu is standing by his decision to join the Harry Potter reboot despite the controversy surrounding author JK Rowling.

The actor, who will take over the role of Severus Snape from the late Alan Rickman in HBO's upcoming adaptation, addressed the backlash in an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, November 10.

Essiedu, 36, noted that he has been "super clear about position on this topic." After his casting was announced last year, he joined 400 actors in signing an open letter advocating for transgender, nonbinary and intersex people.

"I'm really keen not to make a kind of 'them and us' dynamic here," Essiedu told Vanity Fair. "I'm not really here to speak about Jo's politics or to be a mouthpiece...