Harry Potter open casting call

I saw that! How exciting!

I wonder whether they will cast black actors as Sirius and/or Lupin to try and avoid that dynamic.

They should have been more transparent. Looked at the more likely choices first then open cast if they couldn’t find someone. It seems the open auditions didn’t stand much of a chance.

I guess the unsuccessful can at least put it down as audition experience if they want to continue to pursue a career in ‘showbiz’.

The two,little boys look like Jennings and Derbyshire to me. ( misses the point) .

That’s exactly it. And I just think when the age bracket was quite young children, the chance of someone popping up to rival what they were obviously really looking for was too minimal to be worth the mass disappointment.

As long as a role isn’t based on a real life person I really have no problem with it. I would love my favourite celebrity (he’s not white) to be James Bond.

@Calliopespa It seems a bit like interviewing outside candidates when a company already know they’re going to give it internally.

I wish them well and, given the pressures they will face ( which is why I won’t say much about the individual choices themselves), I am not surprised they have chosen children who were already well on their way with managing a public profile.

However, what I would say is, while I totally understand that reasoning, I do think in those circumstances the whole “open casting call” with its suggestion they were looking for fresh and untutored newcomers was maybe a bit unfair on the hundreds upon hundreds of young hopefuls who carefully recorded their best endeavours and sent them away with crossed fingers, hopes and prayers.

If they were happy with applicants who had already “trodden the boards” in the West End or appeared in advertising etc, I’m not sure why they didn’t start there and in agencies, rather than involving so many hopeful children who didn’t get so much as an acknowledgement letter for their efforts. As it turns out, they didn’t need to cast the net very wide to find the ones they wanted.

Many of the characters could have been a different race without it affecting the story too much. Dumbledore,mcgonagall, the Malfoys, various Defence against the Dark Arts teachers...

I thought that would have made more sense.

True I think I was hoping for a black dumbledore to be honest. Possibly a smaller part than Snape in terms of lines and screen time but a huge position of power in the story.

and as someone said upthread an Asian Harry Potter would have been a great fit I reckon.

Because James and Sirius bullied Snape and apparently having a black character being bullied will look racist.

Because of some background stories of lynch type bullying in his school days. I haven’t read it in detail but people are saying previous white on white bullying is now white on black, which could come across badly.

I don’t mean to be nasty here (and I personally never use the word ugly for appearance, only for what’s inside) but Bella Ramsey got heavily criticised for being too plain in The Last of Us.

Why has it caused controversy?

Even the Snape casting? This has caused controversy because of Snape’s backstory.

I really hope they wipe the floor with their superior acting, as I feel the previous three need to see others doing a better job than they ever did. They need taking down a peg or two.

I agree it's no bad thing that they have experience. They have big shoes to fill. I'm sure they will be fab. But it probably didn't need an open casting call. All of the 3 would have belonged to an agency. I wonder if any kids with no experience or agency backing got a recall.

well they need to act in a very high level role so of course even for an open call people would hopefully have some experience but I would not say they were “ very experienced “ and this will be all 3 of their break through roles nothing stands out that they are established well known actors.

I wasmeaning experienced in a relative sense.

And its not a bad thing. I know the girls chosen for Matilda are quite talented and dedicated for example.

Wow super excited. They look a thousand percent awesome. If I was to pick at them (as one must!) my only complaint would be that they, and all the adult parts so far announced, feel very very safe.

Arabella has previously starred in the West End production of Matilda, as well as the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Starlight Express. Meanwhile, Alastair has appeared in TV advertisements, and Dominic is set to be seen in Sky Original comedy Grow. So they aren't totally new to the business. So I'd agree they had experience.

I don’t really think they are particularly “ experienced “

I'm not surprised that an "open" call has resulted in experienced actors.

I hope the families get help with dealing with social media trolls!