Harry Potter star’s new TV show with trans icon is coming out imminently
The show is coming to ITV.
Nick Frost, who was recently cast in the upcoming Harry Potter reboot, is set to appear in a new hit sitcom with trans comedian and singer Jordan Gray.
The 53-year-old actor, who will be playing Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid in the HBO revival, stars opposite Jordan in Transaction, which is set to launch on ITV.
The Shaun of the Dead star and other adult actors cast in Harry Potter recently came under fire for joining the show, due to JK Rowling’s comments about the trans community.
Nick turned off the comments on his Instagram profile following the backlash, and insisted in an interview that the author’s views did ‘not align’ with his own.
In Transaction, his character – supermarket boss Simon – sparks backlash in the LGBTQ+ community after a marketing campaign goes badly wrong.
He employs transgender woman Liv (Jordan) in a bid to turn things around, but he soon faces another struggle as she’s described in the synopsis as someone who ‘ticks the diversity box, but not much else’.
Nick Frost stars as supermarket boss Simon (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock) Jordan Gray, who created and wrote original shorts which inspired the sitcom, stars as Liv (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)ITV teases: ‘Despite a non-existent work ethic, it’s pretty much impossible for Liv to get the sack, encouraging her to wreak havoc on the supermarket night shift.’
‘My one true goal with this show is to create something as timeless as my implants,’ Jordan shared when the show was announced.
Executive producer Kenton Allen said at the time: ‘Transaction promises to be a very eye-catching contemporary comedy, with Jordan Gray, Nick Frost and Thomas Gray forming an unlikely but electric three-some.
‘Jordan’s razor-sharp writing and timing paired with Nick’s legendary comedic presence is comedy dynamite.’
The comedy is based on her former six-part series of shorts of the same name for Comedy Central, which followed the same plot.
Liv causes chaos on the night shift (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock) She didn’t want to play another ‘tragic hero’ (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)She told Gay Star News in 2020 that she wrote the piece as a way of creating a character who was a ‘regular tit-for-brains, not some tragic hero’.
Jordan, 36, rose to fame as The Voice’s first transgender contestant in 2016, making it to the semi-finals before moving into comedy, appearing on the likes of The Russell Howard Hour and Friday Night Live.
On the later in 2022, she performed her song Better Than You about life as a transgender woman, and stripped naked to play the piano with her penis.
Nick was recently forced to respond to criticism facing the Harry Potter show and wider franchise over its creator’s comments, which some have deemed as transphobic.
Nick will star in the Harry Potter revival (Picture: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage) The Shaun of the Dead star has distanced himself from J.K. Rowling’s views (Picture: Instagram)In a recent interview with The Observer, the Shaun of the Dead star insisted he does not share Rowling’s views.
‘She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form,’ he said.
He also argued that the controversy and backlash might not be something people should want to ‘blow over’ for the sake of the wizarding franchise.
Asked if it could ‘overshadow the series’, he replied: ‘I don’t know. But maybe it shouldn’t blow over? We shouldn’t just hope it will go away, because it makes it easier. Maybe we should educate ourselves.’
Nick will be following in the footsteps of late actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, and he’s not concerned with filling the character’s giant shoes.
