Actors revealed for Harry, Hermione and Ron in Harry Potter TV series reboot

Sydney Morning Herald

5 days ago

Like the films, the series is sure to be a Who's Who of A-list talent, with budgets that dwarf almost everything else on TV. The first performer to confirm their participation was Conclave star John Lithgow, cast as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Lithgow, 79, said that he did not expect to be asked to follow in the footsteps of Richard Harris, Michael Gambon and Jude Law (who all played Dumbledore in the Wizarding World films). 'Well, it came as a total surprise to me. I just got the phone call at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision because it's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid,' he said in February. 'But I'm very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.'
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I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu has been cast as potions master Severus Snape, while Ozark 's Janet McTeer is to play deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall, a role that was made famous by the late Dame Maggie Smith and was previously rumoured to be going to Sharon Horgan and Rachel Weisz.
Other stars confirmed to have signed up are Shaun of the Dead 's Nick Frost succeeding Robbie Coltrane as gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, while the role of cantankerous caretaker Argus Filch will be filled by comic performer Paul Whitehouse.
We also have our first villain. Quirinus Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone who is later revealed to be under the control of the evil Lord Voldemort, will be portrayed by Luke Thallon. The 29-year-old is best known as a stage actor. Who will play Voldemort himself in later series is being kept under wraps, but those said to be in the frame include Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy.
How will the series be different from the films?
HBO boss Casey Bloys has said the series will be a 'very, very specifically British 1990s production'.
It is being overseen by Gardiner and Mylod, Britons who are both alumni of HBO's Succession. One need only look at their track record to know that the series will not merely be a rehash of the films. Gardiner worked on the TV adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials; while Mylod's hits include Game of Thrones and The Menu, a Ralph Fiennes horror satirising fine dining. It is expected that the series will be darker than the films, with HBO looking for a slightly older viewership than the pre-teens who were the primary target of the cinematic pictures.
Friends of Gardiner – who wrote her master's thesis on the importance of darkness in kids' stories and has spoken of her dislike for patronising children – say she wants to bring a grittier, ' Wednesday /Tim Burton vibe' to the series.
Perhaps most notably, the characters will be the same age as they are in the books, with each series presumably following the school year. That means, for instance, that Severus Snape (played by the inimitable Alan Rickman in the films) will be in his early 30s on the small screen. Essiedu is 34; Rickman, by contrast, was 55 when the first film was released.
The exception is Dumbledore, who lived to the ripe old age of 115. Lithgow is unlikely to want to be working in his 12th decade.
Is J.K. Rowling involved?
Despite selling more than 600 million Harry Potter books and amassing a fortune of almost £1 billion ($2 billion) according to The Sunday Times' Rich List, Rowling has become a polarising character for her public contributions to the transgender debate. 'That's a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into,' Bloys said at an investor presentation in April 2023. 'Our priority is what's on the screen.'
The 59-year-old author is key to the whole series: she serves as its executive producer and will have the final say on all the casting choices.
Rowling praised HBO for 'preserving the integrity' of her books and said the new adaptation would 'allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series'.
Will the original stars return?
Probably not. Many of the original cast members – including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson – have criticised Rowling's trans views, and sadly others (including Gambon and Rickman) have died.
Jason Isaacs, who played the villainous Lucius Malfoy in the films, was asked whether he would mount a comeback at the premiere of The White Lotus in February. 'I'm hoping to come back as Hermione,' he said, not entirely seriously. 'I sent my audition tape in and I've yet to hear. But they have my number.'
When will the series be broadcast?