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Sebastian Croft, one of the actors of _Heartstopper_, is reacting to backlash over recent news he was cast in the _Hogwarts Legacy_ video game. The LGBTQ+ Netflix series has been embraced by

the community as it gives representation to the group. Croft plays the role of Ben in the teen drama and when he was announced to be voicing a playable character on the Harry

Potter-inspired game, some fans criticized the move. All of the backlash Croft has received stems from author J.K. Rowling expressing opinions that have been deemed transphobic. Fans of the

series can’t fathom how Croft could be in a project with Rowling and he responded with a tweet addressing the criticism. “I was cast in this project over 3 years ago, back when all Harry

Potter was to me, was the magical world I grew up with,” he explained on Twitter. “This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views. I believe wholeheartedly that trans women are women

and trans men are men.” WATCH ON DEADLINE Croft continued, “I know far more now than I did 3 years ago, and hope to learn far more in the next 3. I’m really sorry to anyone hurt by this

announcement. There is no LGB without the T.” _Harry Potter_ star recently talked about why it was important for him to denounce Rowling’s comments. “The reason I was felt very, very much as

though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing _Potter_, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of

identification with Potter on that,” Radcliffe told IndieWire in an interview. “And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt

that way. And that was really important.”