Okay, HBO‘s done it. The impossible. Or, you’d think it would be impossible. They’ve cast the roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione for the upcoming Harry Potter TV series adaptation.
The series will take J.K. Rowling’s epic seven book (over a 10 year period), with each of the seven books getting its own season.
Cool, right?
They’re set to start filming this summer.
So, here’s who’s playing who: Dominic McLaughlin is Harry, Arabella Stanton is Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout is Ron Weasley.
Get this, over 30,000 kids tried out at the open casting call last year. 30,000!
McLaughlin is also set to star in Grow, an upcoming comedy series on Sky with Nick Frost. Stanton played Matilda in Matilda: The Musical on the stage in London from 2023-2024. And this is the first major role for Stout.
Showrunner Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director Mark Mylod said, “After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It’s been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.”
These kids have huge shoes to fill.
And John Lithgow will be there to help them shine. Lithgow will play the role of Albus Dumbledore, while Paapa Essiedu plays Severus Snape. Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost is Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon will play Professor Quirinus Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Paul Whitehouse is caretaker Argus Filch.
Pretty awesome ensemble cast, isn’t it?
Of course, the new series has controversy around it due to writer Rowling getting backlash for her anti-trans comment and supporting the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
Which other movies do you think they should make into a series? John Wick? Indiana Jones?
