No more speculation, no more “so and so is circling the role,” HBO has finally revealed six actors who have been cast in major roles in the upcoming Harry Potter series, joining the only one that was previously confirmed, John Lithgow as Dumbledore.
No, this is not the central Harry, Ron, Hermione trio yet that will be played by young, almost certainly unknown actors. Rather, it’s all teachers. We have:
Dumbledore – John Lithgow (Churchill)
Hagrid – Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead)
Minerva McGonagall – Janet McTeer (Ozark)
Severus Snape – Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You)
Argus Filch – Paul Whitehouse (The Change)
Quirinus Quirrell – Luke Thallon (Present Laughter)
The first four had been rumored for a while now as nearly-signed, and now it’s official. The most controversial choice among them remains Paapa Essiedu, not just because he’s apparently the only character here changing race, but because he’s just…a young, very handsome man, which does not seem to align with Snape’s character. His race also seems like it will come into play when he’s bullied and tormented by James Potter in his younger years.
A surprise on the list is Luke Thallon as Quirrell, an actor with almost no onscreen credits to his name, but a theater actor. He is one of the most important characters in the first book where (20 year old spoilers, I guess) he has Voldemort nestled in the back of his head.
These are most of the biggest adult roles in at least the first book here, and now attention will turn toward the younger cast. With the show still a long while off, I wonder if their casting may be kept under wraps for a while lest they suffer a lot of undue attention well before the show airs. I am specifically thinking of the actress who will play Hermione Granger, who almost assuredly will be black, and unfortunately, we know harassment would ensue, as is the nature of the current state of the internet.
As for this show, it still seems like a questionable idea conceptually, but a questionable idea that is probably going to break viewership records on HBO because of how strong the IP remains after all these years, weathering controversies and its fans growing up. If you need evidence of that, we have Hogwarts Legacy, a video game that outsold Call of Duty in its debut year, and has moved 30 million units since then. The show will be big, like it or not.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
