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?

But you are being massively hypocritical saying that the source material must be respected but then advocating for an actor who was 25+ years older than the source material states. Snape is 31 in the first book and yet Alan rickman was 55. It makes a massive difference to the story- highlighting how young all the people fighting in the wizarding war were. Lily and James were just 21. At least paapa essiedu is the right age for the character.

Thanks for sharing that Times article @Zhx3
Eight years - what a commitment! That’s a huge portion of your life, especially when you’re 60+ like Janet McTeer and John Lithgow. Even for the younger actors it would be limiting a lot of other work they could do, but I suppose the financial rewards could set them up for life.

Thing about respecting the source material is, Rowling wrote a wizarding world without racism as we know it.

So if you're respecting the source material, you won't project racism onto white characters mistreating black characters.

Maybe that's hard to do, but maybe it's also a useful exercise, to imagine a culture without racism based on skin colour.

Massive fan. Won't watch it

Agreed. There’s a lot of racism in some of these comments. Refusing to accept that a black actor might just be the best person for the part?

The only racism that exists in the wizarding world is bloodline.

Plus there’s a lot of assumption here that they will cast James, Sirius and Lupin as white.

There’s a lot of racism in some of these comments.

What examples do you have?

Also, this really comes down to one thing - money. Casting talented actors in a high profile project that has so much money poured into it, and that it has to make that money back and then some. So it has to sell around the world and have top of the line companies paying top dollar for advertising. HBO know this, and know that not having at least one POC in the main cast would not be a good look, in this day and age, regardless of how talented the actor is.

Plus there’s a lot of assumption here that they will cast James, Sirius and Lupin as white.

Here we go, ideal opportunity for my beloved Daveed Diggs as Sirius or Lupin! To make up for them cancelling Snowpiercer.

Hadley’s piece with John Lithgow.

OK, so one example is this very post.

In it, you imply that it's common for leading black actors to be talentless and cast solely because of being black, due to a desire by the programme makers / backers to turn a profit.

That's racism right there.

No, that’s not what I was implying. I was referring to this specific project, at this particular time.

As much as some people (for a range of reasons, many of them bonkers) may want this project to fail, the fact is it won’t.

HP is one of those fandoms that will have a constant new audience stream as kids grow up and want to explore the world for themselves. Every generation will want their “own version”, and let’s face it the films are 14-24 years old now and in some cases look it!

I can absolutely see a “new” iteration of the books happening every 25 years or so, as each new batch of kids growing up want to put their own mark on it/see people they know playing the parts.

Yes! Never watched the TV version of Snowpiercer but he was in The Get Down - would make a great Marauder.

Dev Patel would be perfect for Lupin. Wiki tells me he's 35 (I still think of him as about 20!) so just about the right age

The 3 leads have been announced: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ygp0908g9o

Can't wait to see the show!!

If they start filming this summer, when is it due to be broadcast?

So much hate for Hermione from grown adults on social media. What a shame for a young girl.

really? Ive seen quite positive comments so far

They’re saying it could air 2026. My guess would be that they start filming this summer and that it will be pretty much continuous from that point on. Allowing for filming schedule and post production work I guess they could air from autumn 2026?

Similar to the hate Noma Dumezweni received?

They are such cuties. Godspeed to them!

I have no idea what hate she did or didn’t receive.

The comments on TikTok have been awful unfortunately.

It was all over the media in 2015, but OK.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/05/27/hbos-harry-potter-show-casts-harry-hermione-and-ron/ Forbes article touches on her presumed ethnicity. Hate from adults presumably because she appears to be not-white-enough for some commentators.

She was in the stage production of Matilda as lead - I think she'll be lovely - as will all three.

Excited!

Apparently the actor for Ron - his only professional role was in an ad for Jersey Royal potatoes. Seems very fitting 😁

I think they all look Great

All That's needed from
Hermione from her description in books Are Bushy Hair and large teeth.

They have a long road to hoe

I hope they can cope. Good luck to them all. 🍀🍀🍀🍀🤞