John Lithgow self-confirmed as Dumbledore;
Paapa Essiedu very heavily rumoured as Snape;
Janet McTeer apparently "in talks" to play McGonagall;
Phoebe Waller-Bridge rumoured as Petunia Dursley.
(Admittedly most of these are still conjecture).
For my part... I'm not sure about most of them. John Lithgow is a fantastic actor and did a brilliant job with Churchill, but he's nearly 80... I know Dumbledore's meant to be 100-and-something but as a character he's still very virile and powerful, and I'm not sure he'll be able to do that justice.
Paapa Essiedu as Snape. I thought he was great in Gangs of London, does a really good job with a quietly calculating, slightly sinister character with plenty of gravitas. But he's rather gorgeous, and Snape is not meant to be at all attractive. And, let's not beat around the bush... he's black. I'm not at all against colourblind casting where appropriate (Bridgerton, fantastic- black Anne Boleyn, half-Chinese Bess of Hardwick, not so much). I don't know how it will be possible to show the backstory of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter loathing and bullying Snape without it coming across as being in any way racially motivated, plus the optics of black person=villain isn't great (yes I know he is redeemed right at the very very end). If I were to give him a role, I'd have cast him as Remus. Still the same strong, serious, don't-mess-with-me vibe but without the menace and evil.
Janet McTeer as McGonagall- no problems there. She's excellent in everything I've seen her in, it'll be hard for anyone to fill Maggie Smith's shoes but hopefully she'll be up to the task.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Petunia... I wasn't sure at first but I'm hoping she'll be able to bring her comedy chops to the table and make the character funny as well as intensely unlikeable. I'm trying to imagine who could play Vernon opposite her though?
Interested to hear other people's thoughts about the cast so far and who they'd like to have in what roles if it's possible?
I think I'd give Tonks to Daisy Edgar-Jones, Voldemort to Benedict Cumberbatch, Lockhart to Glen Powell (is there scope to make that character American? I think so), Perhaps Kit Harington as Sirius and I think Natalie Dormer could absolutely go to town with Trelawney.
What do we think?