David Farnor | On 10, Jun 2025

Katherine Parkinson, Johnny Flynn, Bel Powley and Bertie Carvel are among the latest star names to join HBO’s Harry Potter TV series.

The TV show promises to be “a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series”, based on the seven original books – not Fantastic Beasts – and running for 10 consecutive years.

Its central star trio will be Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. Hot on the heels of the unveiling of these three young actors, HBO has now confirmed the latest batch of big names to join the cast.

Molly Weasley will be played by Katherine Parkinson, while Draco and Lucius Malfoy will be played by Lox Pratt and Johnny Flynn. Bel Powley will play Petunia Dursley and Daniel Rigby will play Vernon Dursley. Bertie Carvel will play Cornelius Fudge. And, signing up for lessons at Hogwarts are Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil and Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown.

This slew of names follow the announcement of Paapa Essiedu as Professor Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall, John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.

 

Harry Potter series unveils Harry, Ron and Hermione actors

31st May 2025

HBO’s Harry Potter TV series has unveiled its three young lead actors set to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

The series promises to be “a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series”, based on the seven original books – not Fantastic Beasts – and running for 10 consecutive years. In short, it’s designed to capitalise on one of Warner-Discovery’s most well-known franchises and give HBO a notable exclusive title that can give people a reason to keep subscribing each year – in spite of the controversy surrounding JK Rowling’s comments around gender.

The show has already announced a starry line-up of adults, including Paapa Essiedu as Professor Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall, John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch. But the key to the show’s success will be its child actors, who will follow in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.

After an open casting call last year, more than 30,000 actors auditioned for the trio. Now, HBO has confirmed that Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton will play Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout will play Ron Weasley. This is Stout’s first major role, but McLaughlin will soon be seen alongside Nick Frost in Sky comedy Grow and Stanton played Matilda in the West End musical of the same name.

“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,” commented showrunner Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director Mark Mylod in a statement.

 

HBO confirms Harry Potter TV series cast

14th April 2025

HBO has officially confirmed the cast for its Harry Potter TV series, with Paul Whitehouse and Nick Frost joining the previously rumoured names.

The series promises to be “a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series”, based on the seven original books – not Fantastic Beasts – and running for 10 consecutive years. In short, it’s designed to capitalise on one of Warner-Discovery’s most well-known franchises and give HBO a notable exclusive title that can give people a reason to keep subscribing each year.

After speculation and reports of some initial star names being secured, HBO has now confirmed that Paapa Essiedu will play Professor Severus Snape, Janet McTeer will play Professor Minerva McGonagall, and John Lithgow will play Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Joining them will be Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.

“We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch,” said Francesca Gardiner, showrunner and executive producer and Mark Mylod, director of multiple episodes and executive producer. “We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”

Mark Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.

Paapa Essiedu cast as Snape in HBO’s Harry Potter series

9th March 2025

Paapa Essiedu is set to play Professor Severus Snape in HBO’s Harry Potter series, as the high-profile project lines up its first three big names in key roles.

The series promises to be “a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series”, based on the seven original books – not Fantastic Beasts – and running for 10 consecutive years. In short, it’s designed to capitalise on one of Warner-Discovery’s most well-known franchises and give HBO a notable exclusive title that can give people a reason to keep subscribing each year.

The project isn’t without risk, though, not just in terms of the usual challenge of quality and quantity of content: JK Rowling is serving as executive producer on the show, which brings its own complications.

Last year, an open casting call was announced for UK and Ireland residents to find children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, with a note saying that the show was “committed to inclusive, diverse casting”. That would suggest joining the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in being open to new interpretations of the characters, following Noma Dumezweni wowing as Hermione on stage.

The first role for the series to emerge this week was Paapa Essiedu as Snape, a choice that skews much younger than the late Alan Rickman, who played Snape in the films. Showrunner Francesca Gardiner had previously said that that will also be going much younger for the casting of the Dursleys than the roles were in the movies.

Essiedu, as well as being a brilliant stage actor, is also a familiar sight on TV, having starred in The Lazarus Project, Black Doves and I May Destroy You – the latter was a BBC co-production with HBO.

Janet McTeer is also lined up to play Professor Minerva McGonagall, a role that in the Fantastic Beasts prequel films was played by Fiona Glascott. McTeer has previously been seen in The Old Man and Kaos.

They will join John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore. Lithgow’s been seen in everything from The Crown to Interstellar.

 

Max orders Harry Potter TV series

13th April 2023

Max has officially ordered a new TV series based on Harry Potter.

The rebranded HBO Max platform, which launches in the USA this May, will bring together all of the Warner Bros, DC and HBO libraries, as well as the Discovery Channel, Food Network and more. A key part of the Warner-Discovery merger is the wealth of franchises that’s available to be expanded upon – and that includes, of course, Harry Potter.

The new Max Original Harry Potter series promises to be “a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series”, with JK Rowling serving as executive producer. The involvement of Rowling brings its own complications, but Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content, was keen to place the emphasis on the project rather than the person when announcing the project.

“[Rowling] will be involved. She’s an executive producer on the show. Her insights are going to be helpful on that,” he told Deadline, but also said: “Our priority is what’s on the screen. Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That’s our priority — what’s on screen.”

As for what’s on the screen, the series is based on the seven original books – not Fantastic Beasts – but will run for 10 consecutive years, which suggests that some books could be split across multiple seasons.

The search is underway at present for a showrunner, which means that casting and other details will be some way off. In the UK, however, Max is not expected to launch until autumn 2024, so fans on this side of the pond will be happy to wait.

Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts are also exec-producing, with David Heyman, who developed the films, in talks to exec-produce as well.

Your Hogwarts letter is here.

Max has ordered the first ever #HarryPotter scripted television series, a faithful adaptation of the iconic books. #StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/3CgEHLYhch

— Max (@StreamOnMax) April 12, 2023

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