The Harry Potter show has added new cast members. After the well-received and box office-hit movies dominated theaters for a decade (between 2001 and 2011), HBO announced a television series adaptation of Harry Potter. While the full extent of the cast is far from certain, it was previously announced that John Lithgow would play the role of Albus Dumbledore. Additional cast members were said to be in final talks, including Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Hagrid.
Now, HBO has officially confirmed Lithgow along with several other actors’ castings. Lithgow will indeed play Dumbledore, with McTeer as McGonagall, Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Frost as Hagrid. In addition to confirming these castings, HBO announced the casting of Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse. Thallon will play Quirinus Quirrell, and Whitehouse will play Argus Filch. Francesca Gardiner (showrunner and executive producer) and Mark Mylod (executive producer and director of multiple episodes) released a casting announcement, which can be found below:
“We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch. We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”
What This Means For The Harry Potter TV Show
Luke Thallon Is A New Talent
Upon the announcement of his Dumbledore casting, some franchise fans took issues with the fact that Lithgow was an American. So far, he is the only actor for whom that is true. All five other professor actors are from somewhere in the United Kingdom. Even if the quality of Lithgow’s British accent may worry some audiences, they do not have to fear with these other castings.
Our Take On The Harry Potter Casting
The Roles Will Take On New Life
The Harry Potter TV show team continues to choose cast members that are significantly different ages from their original cast. Quirrell, for example, was first portrayed by Ian Hart, who was 37 at the time he debuted the character. Thallon is nearly a decade younger, being just 29 years old. An even more significant age departure from the original casting is that of Snape, who was first played by a then-55-year-old Alan Rickman and will now be played by 34-year-old Essiedu. These changes will lead to some interesting reimaginings of the lead characters.
