This is either going to be a rousing success or...something very different. HBO is officially casting the three main roles for its upcoming Harry Potter TV show, a from-the-ground-up adaptation of J.K. Rowling's iconic book series about a boy wizard and his friends being whisked off to a magical boarding school and battling the forces of darkness. Of course, eight movies adapting Rowling's seven books already exist. The pitch for the new TV series is that it will include things that the movies had to cut for time.
Harry Potter remains a gargantuan piece of intellectual property, so this is a big undertaking and a big deal. There's something eerie about learning it's really happening: Cast It Talent has posted information about an open casting call where they're looking to cast the three main roles: Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played in the movies by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson respectively. Here's the basics on what they're looking for and what applicants need to do:
- Actors must be aged 9-11 on April 2025, which might indicate that's around when they're hoping filming can begin
- Actors must live in the UK or in Ireland. So if you don't live there and want to try pulling some kind of fraud, best start planning now.
- Actors must send in two self-tape videos, which can be recorded on anything from a smartphone to a professional camera: 1) A video of the actor reading a poem, short story, monologue from a play, or anything that shows off their personality and acting chops; they specifically ask that you DO NOT read anything from Harry Potter. 2) A video where the actors talks a bit about themselves, including describing someone or something they're particularly close to. "Please use your own accent. One minute maximum!"
- Obviously, since we're talking about child actors, all of this must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian.
A Harry Potter TV show is happening. Is it exciting or terrifying?
So this is happening. Is anyone else nervous? I'm nervous. To start, it wasn't that long ago that the Harry Potter movies wrapped up — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 came out in 2011 — and I feel like the show is going to have a hard time shaking the perception that it's a cash grab. Then again, there are seven full books that could, in theory, make for entertaining TV. The showrunner is Francesca Gardiner, who's written and produced on series like Succession, His Dark Materials and Killing Eve. If you're gonna make a Harry Potter TV show, that's a pretty good resume. Mark Mylod, who's been behind the camera for shows like Succession and Game of Thrones, will direct several episodes.
Second, J.K. Rowling is an executive producer on this show, and in recent years J.K. Rowling has stopped being best known as the author of Harry Potter and starting being best known as a militant transphobe who takes any opportunity she can to demonize and spread misinformation about trans people. It's gotten insane; she's feuding, in her own mind at least, with Radcliffe and Watson over this issue, she was cut out of a Harry Potter reunion special on Max, and fansites have distanced themselves from her. Oh, and remember that time Vladimir Putin expressed solidarity with her? Harry Potter being back in the news is going to stir things up again, particularly when she's always maintained a large degree of creative control over Harry Potter projects.
I mean, just before this news broke, actress Rakie Ayola — who played a grown-up Hermione in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — made headlines by openly wondering to Newsweek why Rowling seems so obsessed with this issue. "I'm just really curious to know why I personally don't feel like I hear from her unless it's to talk about trans people and their rights or not," she said. "I don't understand what's concerning her the rest of the time, is this the only thing? I, of course, recognize women have fought very, very hard for the rights that we have and the fear that they will be taken away is very real. I'm not naïve enough not to recognize that. But I just sometimes think, people are just trying to live their lives. Most people are trying to live their lives in a way that makes them some kind of happy."
So things are already messy and they're gonna get messier. And yet, as a millennial who was at the right age when the books were coming out, I have a lot of good memories of Harry Potter, and I know a lot of people would really enjoy a TV show if it's done well. So I'm torn and excited and nervous.
There's no release date set yet. Maybe I'll calm down by then.
h/t Wizarding World
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.