Sectumsempra! These 7 Paapa Essiedu roles determine if he can cut through expectations around his Severus Snape casting

When the rumor mill started to churn about Paapa Essiedu potentially being cast as Severus Snape in a new Harry Potter remake, responses were naturally divided. Snape is hallowed ground among fans, with Alan Rickman's iconic performance still casting a long shadow of legend. But the thing is: if there's one actor who is building up a set of roles drenched in complexity, contradiction, and understated power without many even realizing it, it's Paapa Essiedu. The British actor doesn't merely act roles — he deconstructs them. Whether he's facing trauma, navigating time loops, or slipping into moral grays, Essiedu imbues his work with a searing emotional intelligence that few actors can rival.

His body of work encompasses Shakespearean tragedy, contemporary sci-fi suspense, and psychological horror — all requiring range, nuance, and the ability to convey everything with a single look. Reminds us of Snape, doesn't it? But there is more at play here: exploring whether Essiedu can subvert the presumption that comes from playing a role so deeply ingrained in popular culture.

Let's take a look at seven of his most iconic roles to determine if he's not only a good fit, but perhaps the most inspired Snape casting in years.

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Paapa Essiedu’s roles show whether he can cut through expectations around his Severus Snape casting

1. Kwame in I May Destroy You

Essiedu's Kwame is as emotionally exposed as possible. Coping with the trauma of sexual assault, Kwame is a character drenched in repressed pain, much like Snape, whose shame and inner conflict are seldom uttered but intensely felt. Essiedu's refusal to overact is what makes his performance indelible: he doesn't milk pain; he broods in it. That unspoken intensity, a hallmark of Snape's stoicism, seeps through every shot. With the series' critical success and edgy writing, Essiedu demonstrated he could hold his own on awkward ground. And let's not forget: if you can make it through Michaela Coel's emotional wringer, you can navigate Hogwarts.

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2. Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet

Essiedu's Hamlet wasn't simply another Shakespeare reboot—it was revolutionary. He broke headlines as the first African actor to play the role for the RSC in 55 years. But more than that, he owned Hamlet. Moody, thoughtful, damaged, and razor-sharp, his Hamlet was no angsty cliché. He danced through madness and manipulation with a chilly detachment that recalled Snape's mental chessboard. Praise came from critics for his unapologetic stylistic blending, combining Yoruba heritage and city swagger with Shakespearean language. Here's where Essiedu showed he could own not only a stage but a legacy—precisely the sort of heft Snape requires.

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3. Gentry in The Lazarus Project

In The Lazarus Project, Essiedu enters the sci-fi space with a high-stakes performance. As George Gentry, he portrays a man tormented by lost love and stuck in a perpetual loop of consequence. The role requires layers—the desperation wrapped in calculation. The time-loop aspect reflects Snape's own entrapment in a destiny that he didn't fully agree to. What's most interesting is the way Essiedu brings the inner disintegration beneath a surface calm to life, particularly in Season 2, when the show leans more on paranoia and moral grayness. Ring a bell? That same tragic tension made Snape one of the most complex wizarding characters ever.

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4. Alexander Dumani in Gangs of London

Power, blood, loyalty, and no time for weakness. As Alexander Dumani, Essiedu is neck-deep in the cold-blooded game of crime and family politics. His performance is laced with cool calculation, but it's the quiet moments—those agonized, conflicted stares—that make him stand out. Dumani is not loud, but he has presence, like Snape. By Season 2, Essiedu had created a niche in a show defined by raw brutality with something far more sinister: subtle control. Snape wasn't flashy spells; he was strategy, secrecy, and concealed agony. Dumani provides us with all three. And then some.

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5. George in The Capture

Making his second appearance on the techno-thriller show The Capture in its second season, Essiedu is George—a man with his feet deeply rooted in surveillance politics and shades of ethics. Unlike his other emotionally charged performances, George is more calculating, cold—a man whose morals get flexible when it's convenient. Fans of Snape understand the worth of ambiguity. George's actions tend to bring to mind: Is he on the right path, or simply playing clever? That tension, paired with Essiedu's ability to create deadpan suspense, provides a glimpse into what an early, morally ambiguous Snape would be like before loyalty took on a name: Lily.

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6. James in Men

In Alex Garland's disturbing folk horror Men, Paapa Essiedu doesn't merely play one role—he plays every man that harasses the protagonist. His shape-shifting presence, from an ex who gaslights to gruesome village characters, makes the film a nightmare cycle of masculinity and menace. Although it's not a conventional performance, it's an actor's tour de force in transformation, capturing arrogance, manipulation, pity, and fury. Snape, also, is a man forged by love, rejection, bitterness, and identity crisis. Essiedu's work is incredibly theatrical—sometimes said in silence, sometimes eruptive, and completely haunting.

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7. Jamie in Black Mirror: Demon 79

In Demon 79, Paapa Essiedu stars as Gaap, a demon with a taste for disco, a warped sense of humor, and a strangely moral compass. Yes, you heard that correctly. It's possibly his most far-out role, but also one of his most complex. Gaap is manipulative, charming, philosophical, and anarchic all at the same time. This installment in the Black Mirror world allows Essiedu to show off absurd comedic wit and dark existential horror all at once. Imagine Snape meets Beetlejuice with a heart. If there ever was an alternate reality where Snape got called, Essiedu's Gaap would be the one to creep out of the dark.