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?

David Tennant probably wouldn't get involved because of JK Rowling's stance on trans ideology. He's completely captured.

I don't think so.

He will never be Alan Rickman so why bother trying to be Alan Rickman?

I think he could be a wonderful Snape in his own right.

Well the way to get round the racism element of having a black Snape would be to have the potters be black too.

I heard or read that one of JK's hard lines was Alan Rickman as Snape.

Sophie Okonedo could've been a brilliant McGonagall.

I think Ralph Fiennes would be perfect for Voldemort - Julie Walters would be a great Molly Weasley too.

I am a minority I know but I never liked Alan Rickman as Snape. Too old and too hammy. Lovely voice but that was the only bit I enjoyed.

I really want a stunning Serius. He's meant to be drop dead gorgeous and whilst I love Gary Oldman, popping him in a curly wig wasn't enough.

And definitely all too old.

I think Paul Mescal could be Sirius. He's only a couple of years younger than the character. Maybe Jack Lowden as Lupin.

I thought Gillian Anderson as Aunt Petunia would be good, but can see Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Think she’d be good as Tonks, too.

I would like to see British children's various ethnic roots represented. American made things tend to America wash characters. Americans like to imagine Hermione as Latina, but here in the UK, you'd expect a good portion to be Bangladeshi and Pakistani. I think this would work really well for Hermione, both in terms of how she's physically described and her background.

Harry's dad hangs Snape from a tree - I am not sure they have thought this casting through 😫

I can't wait for this!

It may seem too soon for adults, but it's not too soon for a new generation of DC growing up with HP.

It's 24 years since the first Harry Potter film came out. Loads of people who watched it as kids at the time have kids of their own now! And it's those kids it's for.

And although I love Harry Potter, the films <whisper> aren't actually that good. There's plenty of scope to do a better job for a new generation, and doing a series per book will allow for so much more of the original story o be shown on the screen.

My DC are excited for this, as are DC the world over I would imagine.

How tf are they going to find child actors willing to give eight years of their lives to this? The more unknowns the better I reckon, our British acting firmament isn't getting any younger and this project will eat them alive.

I think the original cast of Horrible Histories and Ghosts would be great playing some of the characters.

They did an open casting call for them, so it'll be unknowns, hopefully.

I'd prefer a completely British and Irish cast, but it's an American production so I expect a few American actors in it.

It's HBO. Kings of series, whole head above all the others.

So it should be excellent. Although, it could go wrong apparently, as The House of Dragon is shit, have to admit.

I can just see Snape relaxing his hair on a Saturday afternoon… 😂 plus Paapa is my future husband, he just doesn’t know it yet, and far too gorgeous to be a greasy bat 😭

Through a massive casting call inviting unknowns to apply. There were threads here on it at the time

DD sent a video audition to be Hermione, along with tens of thousands of other girls aged 9-11!

Sifting through those applications must have been a job and a half!

I am a huge fan of the HP books, utterly adore them and have read the whole series more times than I can count but, as someone who doesn't watch films, I haven't seen a minute of any of the movies so I don't know how closely they adhere to the books.
However, taking the books canon into account, Snape, who is the same age as James and Lily, would have been in his early 30s in Philosopher's Stone, making Barry Keoghan a pretty accurate age to play the character. My husband, who does watch films avidly, says he is excellent in everything he's seen him in and that he always steals the show, even in a relatively minor role, because his performance is so mesmerising. I can't say if he'd make a good Snape personally since to me he's only Sabrina Carpenter's ex-boyfriend, but from what my husband said about his roles so far he could make a great Snape. This would, however, mean them casting Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, Petunia et al younger too, which it sounds like wasn't the case in the films.

John Lithgow is an incredible actor, I saw him onstage last year and he was absolutely mindblowing.

I am a minority I know but I never liked Alan Rickman as Snape. Too old and too hammy.

His theatrical style is what made Snape so popular. Snape as a greasy snivelling little bully wouldn't have made anywhere near such an impression.

I think Lena Headey would be really good as Narcissa

Phillip Glenister as Mad-Eye?

Alfie Allen as one of the marauders - maybe Pettigrew?

I read a rumour a while ago that Lesley Manville was up for McGonagall. I think she would be amazing!

I hope the Snape casting is just a rumour and not fact. I thought the series was meant to
be more faithful to the books than the films, not less??

True of course they are that young in the books. Wild!

Rowling was happy to envisage Hermione as black - she's another character who faced prejudice in the wizarding world - so I doubt casting Snape as black would be a problem for her.