Casting rumors heat up for Harry Potter series, with Ted Lasso star linked to Hagrid!
By Ashley Hurst
The team behind HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series have had their work cut out for them in recent months. The new series is inherently controversial and feels like a blatant money-spinner, with droves of fans of the original movies poised to boycott it. However, love the idea or hate it, the series is officially happening, and the team has been hard at work casting new actors in beloved roles.
The casting process has been like no other, with head writer Francesca Gardiner recently revealing that the show has recieved audition tapes from upwards of 32,000 kids, each vying to become the next Harry, Ron, and Hermione. While the casting of that key trio remains shrouded in mystery, Deadline reports that a few names have been thrown around for other key characters.
For instance, Mark Strong (Kingsman) and Oscar winner Mark Rylance have both been cited as frontrunners to play Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) was recently named as a candidate to portray Professor Snape, who was previously played by Alan Rickman in the original movies.
The latest two names to be added to the rumor mill include Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters) as Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. Plus, rather bizarrely, Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein has been linked with the role of Hagrid, a role previously played by the late Robbie Coltrane.
This latter casting in particular has been met with confusion. In Ted Lasso, Goldstein is a footballer, far from the portly and tall Hogwarts groundskeeper. They'll have to work some Hollywood magic to make Goldstein resemble Hagrid, much the same way Colin Farrell was made to look like The Penguin.
It's worth noting that none of these castings have been made official yet. This is still very much rumor status.
The Harry Potter series will begin filming in 2025, with production taking place in Leavesden Studios; the same location where the movies were filmed. No release date has been set yet. 2026 or 2027 seems like a sensible estimate.
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