Over the course of several decades, Cillian Murphy has cultivated an eclectic, diverse, and utterly unpredictable career. He has consistently made bold choices, putting him in a unique echelon of talented actors willing to take on subversive and daring roles. This has paid off for the performer in spades, as his turn in 2023’s Oppenheimer (his sixth collaboration with filmmaker Christopher Nolan) earned him an Academy Award and made him one of the most highly sought-after performers in the business.
However, there is one very particular role that Murphy is not taking on, according to a recent interview: Lord Voldemort in the upcoming Harry Potter series.
No, Cillian Murphy is not playing Voldemort
When recently asked directly about this by Josh Horowitz on an episode of his Happy Sad Confused podcast, Murphy shut down all of the conjecture quite succinctly. When asked if there was anything to the Harry Potter rumors, the actor simply replied, “No.”
He went on to say, “Genuinely. My kids show me occasionally, but no, I don’t know anything about that. I mean, also, it's just really hard to follow anything that Ralph Fiennes does. The man is an absolute acting legend, so good luck to whoever is going to fill those shoes.”
As HBO continues to film its new television adaptation of the Harry Potter series, nearly all of the principal cast members have been announced. However, a notable exception to this is in the form of He Who Shall Not Be Named. It's been reported—but not confirmed—that the studio has cast the actor but will not reveal it until closer to the release.
This has spurred a great deal of fan speculation as to who the series may have waiting in the wings to step into the role. As such, big names like Matt Smith to Nicholas Hoult—both of whom have experience playing dastardly characters—have been rumored for the part. But to an even greater extent than those two, Murphy has remained an incredibly popular fan-cast for the role, with many people online going so far as to make up concept renderings of the actor as the Dark Lord himself.
Notably, Murphy is currently working with the original Voldemort actor, Fiennes, on the 28 Years Later trilogy, so his praise comes from both a place of professional and personal admiration.
While Murphy is no stranger to taking on roles shrouded in secrecy, such as any role in a Christopher Nolan film, it sounds pretty much confirmed that he will not be appearing in the new Harry Potter series for a multitude of reasons.