Johnny Flynn, a star of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, has said private schools should be “burnt to the ground” as he reflected on what he described as a traumatic childhood experience at boarding school.
Flynn, who will play Lucius Malfoy in the highly anticipated adaptation of JK Rowling’s wizarding novels, made the remarks while discussing his own education.
The South African-born British actor, 43, said he was sent away to boarding school at the age of seven and was bullied during his time in education.
“It was quite traumatic for me,” he said of starting boarding school so young. “I think they should all be burnt to the ground, I don’t think private schools should exist.”
Flynn has previously spoken about his difficult years at boarding school, saying the experience led him to develop nervous tics.
The actor and Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit frontman told Radio Times that he did not fully recognise how painful those childhood experiences had been until years later.
He said therapy helped him make sense of what he called “boarding school syndrome”.
“And I’m good, I’m OK now,” he added.
Johnny Flynn, who has been cast as Lucius Malfoy in HBO’s eagerly anticipated adaptation of JK Rowling’s wizarding novels, spoke about his education while discussing his career.
Flynn was sharing his views on Britain’s education system while speaking about his role in the second series of crime drama MobLand, which stars Tom Hardy and counts Guy Ritchie as an executive producer.
The actor plays a criminal and chiropodist in the Paramount+ series, and reflected on the fact that he, Hardy and Ritchie were all privately educated.
‘The posh boys taking over things is such an important conversation to have,’ he said.
‘It’s terrible when the only stories being told are by the same set of public school guys. But those people that were probably being targeted, like Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch, they’re the nicest people I know, and they would say, ‘Yeah, we don’t want to be the only ones here.’
Flynn’s own experience of boarding school dates back to his childhood in England.
He was sent to Pilgrims, a cathedral school in Winchester, at the age of eight on a music scholarship, having taken up the violin as a child.
He later attended the progressive Bedales School, where he continued his musical education before eventually going on to train as an actor.
The actor has previously described his first boarding school as an unhappy environment and said he had found it difficult to understand why his parents had sent him away.
Now, despite his strong views about private education, Flynn is preparing to return to the world of boarding schools on screen as one of the most recognisable villains in the Harry Potter universe.
He will play Lucius Malfoy, the wealthy and prejudiced father of Draco Malfoy, in HBO’s new television adaptation of the books.
Flynn is taking over the role from Jason Isaacs, who portrayed Lucius in the original Harry Potter films.
The new series is set to premiere on Christmas Day this year, with Dominic McLaughlin playing Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
The first season will be based on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with the series intended to follow Rowling’s books more closely than the films were able to.
Flynn said he had approached the role of Lucius differently from Isaacs, insisting that he needed to empathise with his characters rather than simply portray them as villains.
‘Jason is brilliant. He has a moral compass that shows him his true north and he underlined the themes of racism.
‘Not to denounce his version, but I can’t play a character unless I empathise with them.’
He said his own experiences had helped him understand the psychology of people who become bullies after being bullied themselves.
‘He was one of those kids bullied in his school, and he’s now turned into the bully, so he doesn’t know another way.
‘That’s how I want to play him because I know those people quite well. On the one hand, they were the people that bullied me, they were the abusers, but at some point, they were the abused. So, nobody’s outright good or bad in the world.’
In the original films, Isaacs played Lucius as a sinister aristocrat and staunch supporter of Voldemort, with the character’s contempt for Muggles and those from non-magical families central to his portrayal.
Flynn, meanwhile, is best known for roles including George Knightley in the 2020 film Emma and appearances in Lovesick, Ripley and One Life, as well as his career as a musician.
The new Harry Potter series has already generated considerable attention ahead of its Christmas debut, with John Lithgow taking on the role of Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Nick Frost as Hagrid.