Kam Patterson took on the role of Professor Snape from “Harry Potter” in a sketch on “Saturday Night Live’s” “Weekend Update.”
This casting choice nods to HBO’s forthcoming “Harry Potter” series, where the character, traditionally portrayed as white, will be played by Black actor Paapa Essiedu.
Introduced by Colin Jost, Patterson’s Snape initially adopted a formal tone, greeting Jost with, “Good evening, Mr. Jost—nah, I’m playing. I don’t talk like that, bro. It’s called code-switching. Codio switchio!”
When Jost inquired about Snape’s year at Hogwarts, he replied, “Not great. We got this new kid. His name is Harry Potter, and he’s racist as hell. Harry Potter—or, the Proud Boy Who Lived—spent the whole year telling everybody that the school’s only Black teacher was secretly evil.”
Jost remarked, “I think he’s just worried because he knows someone’s trying to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone.” To this, Snape responded, “So somebody stole something, and the number one suspect is Black Snape? They didn’t even look at the white guy in the turban. So offensive. He’s got a wizard on the back of his head,” referencing the moment in the first “Harry Potter” story where Voldemort appears on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head.
“I’m really sorry that he just jumped to conclusions like that,” Jost said. Snape replied, “All good. It happens all the time. I showed up at Hogwarts, and on the first day they looked at me and said, ‘You’re the professor of the Dark Arts.’ I never even studied that! I majored in African Muggle Studies.”
Snape continued, “The whole wizarding world is racist. There’s one other Black guy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, a name I’m guessing they got out of the Wu-Tang name generator. Everyone’s in these dignified robes. They dressed him up like he was selling cocoa butter incense out of a barbershop.” When Jost commented, “That’s kind of a cool outfit, right?” Snape replied, “Yeah, for a Haitian cab driver. And why they got to put ‘shackle’ in his name? That’s crazy, man. Shackle? Shackle!”
Jost commented, “Well, for the very first time, I’m starting to think J.K. Rowling might be problematic.”
Snape added, “The whole wizarding world is messed up. We have magic, we have wands that can do anything, and people in my world still have slaves.” He dismissed Jost’s suggestion that they’re known as “house elves.” “Yes, some folk got house elves. I bet you didn’t know they got field elves too. They didn’t put that in the book, huh, Colin?”
Patterson’s appearance wrapped up with Snape delivering a final message for Harry: “Your mama was thick as hell, dog. I miss her so much.”
Watch the sketch below.
