The Harry Potter Audible series has packed in some more big names that include a Game of Thrones alum in a prime role!
Much buzz is being made about HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series and how it will be a new take on the beloved fantasy novels. The cast for that continues to grow even as filming gets underway and the hype is huge.
However, there’s another notable Harry Potter remake coming in Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions. These upcoming productions from Audible are good old-fashioned audio adaptations that will be almost word-for-word the novels with audio effects like a radio show. It's a throwback to BBC adaptations of such tales as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
According to Variety, the new cast members will include Mark Addy, who played King Robert in Season 1 of Game of Thrones, who portrays the beloved Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid. With roles ranging from The Full Monty to being Fred Flintstone, Addy is well-suited for the role played by the late Robbie Coltrane in the movies and Nick Frost in the coming HBO show.
Also coming on board are Daniel Mays of Rogue One as house elf Dobby, Alex Hassell as Lucius Malfoy and Avni and Sara Deshmukh as Parvati and Padma Patil.
Already announced were Frankie Treadaway, Max Lester, and Arabella Stanton, who will voice Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, respectively, in the first three stories. Jaxon Knopf, Rhys Mulligan, and Nina Barker-Francis will take over the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the remainder of the books. Notably, Stanton will play Hermione in the HBO series.
Hugh Laurie as Albus Dumbledore, Matthew Macfadyen as Lord Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Professor Snape, and Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall are also coming on board.
Now, more voices are coming on board that include a Game of Thrones star as a beloved Potter character!
The dramas will have the challenge of capturing the visual magic of the story for an audio format, which is trickier than it sounds. However, it has the benefit of a high-powered cast that doesn’t have to worry about looking like the characters (although Addy could easily play a live-action Hagrid). More amazing is that this is only the cast for the first book, with more big-name actors likely to join later on as the series adapts the rest of the series.
With such a high-powered cast involved, this audio version of Harry Potter may end up being more entertaining for fans than the HBO series and show how the saga works in any medium.
Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions begin this fall from Audible.