Nicholas Hoult is joining HBO's new Harry Potter series in a very different role than he was originally rumored to be in talks to play.
According to a report from Deadline, Hoult will star as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter season 2, which will be based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
For those who don't know, Gilderoy Lockhart is a famous author and celebrity in the Wizarding World for his extraordinary adventures. He also becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry's second year.
Hoult will join an outstanding cast playing the professors at Hogwarts, including Paapa Essiedu, Janet McTeer, Jon Lithgow, Nick Frost, and more.
Hoult will join the Harry Potter cast for season 2, which is scheduled to begin filming sometime this fall, according to the report. If everything goes well, season 2 will actually begin filming before the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on Christmas Day.
Obviously, Hoult is an excellent choice to play Lockhart. He's one of the most talented actors in the world. Recently, he's starred in movies like Superman, Nosferatu, The Great, Renfield, The Menu, and many more. Watching him play the bumbling idiot at Hogwarts in season 2 will be excellent.
In season 2, Hoult will join a massive cast that includes Dominic McLaughlin, who plays Harry Potter, Alistair Stout, who plays Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton, who plays Hermione Granger. Those four characters share some pretty important scenes together.
Hoult was originally rumored to play Voldemort
Hoult has been linked to the Harry Potter series for a long time. Heading into the first season of the Harry Potter series, there were many rumors that Hoult was actually being eyed to play Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter's nemesis and the key villain of the story.
As it turns out, Hoult is actually signing on to Harry Potter in a much, much smaller role. I don't want to get into a lot of the spoilers, but Voldemort, while not in much of the first few seasons, has a much bigger presence in the story. Of course, Hoult playing Voldemort is obviously off the table now that he's agreed to play Lockhart.
I don't know if we'll ever find this out, but I'm curious if those scoopers and the other outlets were actually hearing that Hoult was being eyed for Voldemort or if they just knew he was in talks to play some character. An actor of Hoult's caliber would obviously be a welcome addition to the cast as Voldemort.
Now, it's going to be interesting to see just who actually plays Voldemort with Hoult out of the running. There have been lots of actors rumored to be in contention or discussions to play the Dark Lord, including Tilda Swinton, Cillian Murphy, and Paul Bettany.
It's hard to distinguish between actual rumors and fan casting picks just because this is such a popular franchise and so many fans have favorites they would love to see playing the lead villain.
I also suspect that, because Voldemort has such a big presence later in the series, we might not see the actual actor who will star as Voldemort until season 4. We'll keep an eye on the casting rumors and reports, though, and we'll share more information about the role when we find out.
Watch Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone starting Christmas Day on HBO and HBO Max.
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