Harry Potter fans- what do we think of the HBO show casting so far?

[AngeloMysterioso]

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?

For me there's no way paapa can be a good snape. Yellow teeth, greasy lank hair, sallow of skin- if they were to race change snape , (and for reasons already mentioned in regard to racial profiling of the bullying aspect they shouldn't change this character- he's best played the white incel that he is!) they could maybe have cast an Asian man. Meanwhile - Hagrid, lupin, Sirius, Hermione, trelawny, flitwick, sprout, mundungus, fudge, krum, Neville, Luna, umbridge- nothing in the story would change if their race changed. With snape- a key factor changes and the core allegory that sits within then story is muddied when they race change.

See now I think the films are bloody awful. Hammy, over-acted, with great gaping omissions or deviations from the plot of the books (which I know was necessary to stop the films being like 8 hours long but still) and apart from the children everyone from the films is at least 10 if not 20 years too old. I'd be ready for a remake that has the time to go into the more intricate but still integral elements of the plot that is well cast with the characters actually staying true to the way they are written in the books.

I think they should cast complete unknowns — the IP is going to do the heavy lifting here, so no need for stars.

I hate the race change. I'm not from the UK. In my part of the world most people think race changing is a joke. We expect to see black people in Wakanda movie as much as seeing white people in roles that are written for white people. I don't expect them to swap say Hermione to be my race as that would be ridiculous.

Apart from the Weasleys who can be quite a bit older, the parents' generation should only be in their thirties to begin with.

The films did go heavily with Well Known Actors for the non-child roles, and I sometimes felt it was a case of 'ooooh look who's playing X!' that almost detracted from the stories. Bringing in some unknowns there could work.

I agree that casting Snape as black brings in racism connotations for the bullies that are not in the books. There are plenty of other characters who could race change. Lockhart (Regé John Page maybe), Remus and Trelawney for example, and they'd work well as American, too.

While John Lithgow is terrific (and has played Churchill) it's a shame they haven't stuck with a British/Irish actor there. And his age might be a problem for a long running series. It's why Christopher Lee declined the role of Gandalf in favour of Saruman.

Phoebe Waller Bridge could be Bellatrix

Original cast members could include Tom Felton as Lucius Malfoy, maybe Daniel Radcliffe as James. Depending on how JKR feels ...

I think the music composer and the overall designers will have their work cut out for them to create something new, though!

Regarding Americans ... Jason Momoa as Madeye Moody ...?

WHAT. 🤷‍♀️

I don't see such a problem with Snape being black. Yes, it makes you think a bit, but I find it quite an interesting scenario, especially after reading people ideas here

Yes, Lily would associate bullying with racism in his case - but wouldn't that work with her being protective of him for so long?

Yes, James and co. would look like arrogant, privileged bullies - but so they were.

Yes, white boys hanging a black boy upside down would have dreadful connotations - but that's a dreadful scene of juvenile sexual assault as it stands.

Yes, Snape should be ugly, sallow, hook-nosed, greasy haired - but Rickman wasn't.

If he's the only major black character it might unbalance things a bit because people might find it difficult to see the children's antipathy to him as free of racial bias. But there's an easy solution to that.

Yes Snape, Sirius and Lupin are supposed to be in their 30s throughout the series. James and Lily died at 21. I hope they cast age-accurate actors- the film ones were way too old!

Okay I actually LOVE this!

Yes, the bullying element would be my concern.

That was the problem with the colourblind casting of A Gentleman in Moscow: the protagonist had objected to his sister's boyfriend in the past. If you only watched the tv series, you could be forgiven for thinking that the character was racist.

Mark Gatiss would be a great Arthur Weasley.

And I also agree that Olivia Coleman should be Professor Umbridge.

No! We are not meant to get fanny gallops over ALASTOR MOODY! 😟

I love HP but think the series might absolutely tank; it’s a bit soon for a remake.

I can’t see Ben Whishaw doing menacing whilst sounding like Paddington.

I'll just rewatch the originals. I don't like remakes.

I love Paapa Essiedu and think he's a great actor as well as being a beautiful human. I normally don't give a shit about race swaps of fictional characters and loved black Hermione in Cursed Child.

However, Paapa is not Snape. Snape is not handsome, nor is he black. His character is described in detail in the books and although fictional, he has a certain image - sallow skin, greasy hair, a hooked nose, pale etc. Aside from that, the fact that now his entire back story won't make sense is what makes it a bizarre choice.

If Snape was real, he'd be a MAGA, right wing incel. Making him black erases this important part of his persona.

I'd still love to see Hugh Grant as Gilderoy Lockhart.

I like the idea of Benedict as Lupin and Ewan McGregor as Sirius.I'd like to see Sophie Turner as Lily and Maisie Williams as Tonks. For Bellatrix, hear me out... Lacey Turner.
I think whoever plays Amanda in Motherland would be a good Petunia.

I enjoyed the films because some of the adult performances (... ok, mainly Gary Oldman) and the beauty and detail of the production... but they never quite hit the spot for me because of the kids... and the unforgiveable omission of Peeves being played by Rik Mayall.

Surely Olivia Colman should be Dolores Umbridge?!

Yes, Snape should be ugly, sallow, hook-nosed, greasy haired - but Rickman wasn't.

Eh? The only good thing about rickman's overacted, hammy performance was that he did physically resemble the character.

Really? I don’t think the films are that great. They miss too much out and some of the early acting from the kids is unwatchable. I’m looking forward to the tv series being a better adaptation.

When I read the books I pictured Neville as black, his grandmother too. It was a bit of a shock when he was white in the films!

I worry that there will become a racial discrimination element where previously there was none.

James and his friends bullied Snape. Now it looks like racism.

Harry took an instant dislike to Snape as soon as he saw him. Now it looks like racism.

They could make Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid etc., black and it would be fine and go a long way to address concerns about representation. But this just seems like it's asking for trouble.

Rickman was an aging emo - smouldering eyes, pallor, unkempt but artful black wig, his own nose as far as I can tell.

You didn't look at him and think, greasy and repulsive. I'm sure any actor could manage a similar look, black or white. I bet they won't be making Snape actually ugly and repulsive - he's too much an anti-hero for that on film.

JK Rowling insisted in an entirely British cast for the films. Has she said that she is happy for some of the main roles to be taken by Americans in the TV series? Is she not as involved thus time around?