Which Harry Potter cast members publicly commented on Rowling’s 2020 statements and what did they say?

1. Daniel Radcliffe: a detailed, public repudiation for a charity audience

Daniel Radcliffe published a substantive statement in June 2020 via The Trevor Project asserting, "Transgender women are women," and arguing that statements to the contrary "erase the identity and dignity of transgender people" and conflict with professional health-care advice — a position widely reported as one of the earliest prominent cast rebuttals to Rowling ^{[1] [6] [7]}.

2. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint: solidarity from the leading trio

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who alongside Radcliffe form the franchise’s central trio, publicly distanced themselves from Rowling’s phrasing and expressed support for transgender people; Grint issued an explicit statement that "I firmly stand with the trans community" and echoed that "Trans women are women. Trans men are men" while Watson has been reported as among those who spoke out in support of trans rights following the 2020 exchanges ^{[8] [2] [1]}.

3. Bonnie Wright, Eddie Redmayne and other actors who sided with trans fans

Bonnie Wright tweeted a personal message of affirmation — "If Harry Potter was a source of love and belonging for you... Trans women are women. I see and love you" — and actors such as Eddie Redmayne issued public statements saying they "disagree" with Rowling’s comments and emphasizing respect for transgender identities, with multiple outlets documenting a broader pattern of cast members voicing support for trans people in 2020 ^{[3] [4] [1] [7]}.

4. Cast members who defended or contextualized Rowling

Not all responses were condemnations: Ralph Fiennes defended Rowling’s right to be treated without abuse and described the attacks on her as "disgusting" in later comments, and Robbie Coltrane publicly defended the author in 2020; other actors framed the situation as complex, urging tolerance for Rowling’s perspective while sometimes acknowledging controversy ^{[3] [2] [5] [9]}.

5. Voices beyond the leads: supporting statements, signatories and nuance across the ensemble

Beyond the leads, a number of secondary cast members publicly weighed in — for example, Chris Rankin and Noma Dumezweni offered supportive messages for trans fans or amplified trans voices — and some actors signed open letters or made less fulsome remarks; coverage from outlets like BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly and Newsweek catalogued roughly a dozen to nearly twenty cast reactions in 2020 and afterward, showing the ensemble was divided rather than monolithic ^{[6] [10] [4] [9]}.

6. The context: how the cast’s remarks were reported and Rowling’s pushback

Reporting emphasizes two competing dynamics: many cast members used public statements to affirm trans identities and align with medical and advocacy groups, while Rowling has repeatedly framed her interventions as concerns about language and women's rights and later publicly criticized some actors for what she depicts as misrepresentation — a dispute covered in news accounts that highlights both the public, moral stakes and the interpersonal rift between author and actors ^{[2] [11] [12]}.

7. What these statements mean for the franchise and its audiences

The public responses illustrate a cultural split: for fans who look to the cast as moral exemplars, the repeated affirmations of trans people by leading actors signaled a repudiation of Rowling’s phrasing; for others, defenses of Rowling foreground free expression or sympathy for her experiences — reporting across mainstream outlets documents both positions and shows the controversy reshaped public associations with the Harry Potter brand ^{[8] [2] [11]}.