Leaving aside whether we need a seven-season long rehashing of the adventures of Harry and his pals, I want to weigh in with my thoughts about the casting, and the fan reactions to the rumors.
As of this writing, there are no publicly discussed contenders for the kids. An open casting call was held last October, and there’s another scheduled for April 2025, so apparently, no one has the inside track there yet.
Focusing on the adults (and I do so love to focus on the adults), we have the following rumors (of varying plausibility and often dubious provenance, so fancaster beware):
John Lithgow has reportedly been signed, so sorry to anyone rooting for other contenders, like Mark Rylance and Mark Strong.
Rachel Weisz and Sharon Horgan have been the focus of the most persistent rumors, but Deadline (who broke the news of Dumbledore’s casting) has just reported that Janet McTeer is also “in negotiations” for the role.
Multiple outlets have reported that Paapa Essiedu is the main contender, and Deadline says he is “closing his deal” with the showrunners. I haven’t seen any convincing evidence that other actors have been in talks with HBO’s creative team, so it would seem Essiedu has been the choice for a while.
Cillian Murphy has been the frontrunner for a few months now, at least in the media, although SuperHeroHype speculates that he’s actually being considered for Quirrel (who … you know … wore Voldy on the back of his head for about a year, so Voldemort-adjacent?). I haven’t heard any real buzz about anyone else.
Brett Goldstein is reported to be in the running to fill the impossibly large shoes of our favorite half-giant.
The reactions to these rumors have been … predictable.
Everyone in the Potter fandom has their favorites, but some folks are miffed that their picks are being left in the casting office slush file.
There’s the perennial issue of how well the frontrunners match the descriptions of the characters in the books, and there’s the undeniable fact that the performances of some the actors (Rickman *cough*) in the original movies made impressions that will be hard to shake.
But it’s depressingly predictable that there’s maybe just a tinge (or, let’s face it, a buttload) of racism in the rants of the outraged on social media.
Just like the “controversy” that erupted when Noma Dumezweni, a Black actor, was cast as Hermione in the original London production of stage-play-cum-fanfic Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, some folks are coming unglued over the fact that Essiedu is at the head of the line to play our beloved King of Pain.
But fear not. They have Reasons.
Some are reasonable Reasons.
Forbes notes that some fans are concerned that the dynamic of a White James Potter bullying a Black Snape is poor “optics.” (This, of course, assumes that the actor who will portray James will be White.)
Many are concerned about (*waves hands vaguely*) fidelity to “book-Snape.”
“Sorry, but in the book they mention that Snape is a pale man with greasy hair, what are you telling me?”
(Comment reported by Y!Entertainment)
Others’ objections are a bit more troubling.
This Reddit thread provides a cross section.
First, there are the coy ones:
They just can’t help themselves.
Harry’s dad will be a lesbian unicorn furry in a wheel chair at this point.
Then there are the more direct comments about race:
Doesn’t matter, they want less whites in the show that’s all they care about
Lily is definitely gonna be raceswaped (she’s a redhead), and Harry will probably be mixed
and (the delightfully un-self-aware):
Brownie points for a tiny but very vocal internet community, to make themselves look good in their own eyes, to pander to “POCs”, to show how enlightened they are, to call out all the racists that don’t watch the show. Take your pick. As for the lesson, they won’t learn even after they are out of a job. They will continue to double down because of their pride/arrogance.
Essiedu’s casting has plenty of defenders on social media, thankfully, and I don’t mean to imply that all objections to Essiedu as Snape are based in racism.
Lotts of folks have a picture in their heads of the “ideal” person to play a role, myself included. But what’s “ideal” in one’s head is necessarily informed by one’s attitudes toward people who look a certain way. And if the casting of someone other than your “ideal” provokes a visceral reaction (not to mention a rant on X), maybe check your Reasons?
How many movie casting choices are true to the descriptions of characters in books?
How’s this for an example:
Margaret Mitchell opened the novel Gone With the Wind with the line “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful …”
David O’Selznick, who cast Vivien Leigh in the 1939 film, obviously and famously disagreed.
The original Harry Potter films were crammed with actors who didn’t look like their novel counterparts.
Harry’s famously green eyes had to be scrapped for the films due to (blue-eyed) Daniel Radcliffe’s adverse reaction to the cosmetic contact lenses. While people remark on it, I haven’t seen any Twitter (X) or Reddit rants on the topic suggesting a blue-eyed Harry violates the spirit of the book.
More talk seems to have evolved around Emma Watson’s beauty (because of course it does), which contrasted with Rowling’s implications that book Hermione was less than conventionally attractive, with her “bushy brown hair” and “large front teeth.” Not to mention the stunned reaction to her supposed transformation during the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (I found it funny in the film when the astonished Parvati gasps, “She looks beautiful.” As if Emma Watson looking gorgeous could be a surprise to anyone with eyes.)
Maggie Smith, whom Rowling apparently had in mind for McGonagall, bore only a passing resemblance to her novel counterpart. While Dame Maggie could do “stern” like no one’s business, at 5’ 5″ she wasn’t especially “tall,” nor did she have novel-McGonagall’s black hair. And the film’s hair goblins eschewed the “tight bun” Rowling gave the character, in favor of a softer, more complicated updo that was more flattering to the actress. Yet Smith is most often lauded as the “perfect” McGonagall.
Horace Slughorn is described as an “enormously fat, bald, old man” with an enormous, silver walruslike mustache.” Jim Broadbent, not so much.
And then there’s Rickman’s Snape.
Rickman was far older than Snape — 55 during the filming of the first movie, to novel-Snape’s 31 — a fact which, to be fair, has been widely remarked on.
Book-Snape is described as “ greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin” with a “thin face” and “uneven, yellowish” teeth. Mary DuPré’s illustrations for the first American editions of several of the books give him a mustache, goatee, and receding hairline.
None of this is how I would describe Rickman as Snape.
Nevertheless, Rickman’s brilliant performance has overcome the vast majority of folks’ concerns about the age-discrepancy and all the rest.
Why can’t we give Essiedu the benefit of the doubt here?
He’s a respected actor. Like Rickman (and any number of other Potter film alums), he’s a former star of Britain’s venerable National Theatre, as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company, having played demanding roles like Hamlet, Romeo, and the Snapesque(?) Edmund in King Lear.
Yes, he’s more conventionally attractive than book-Snape. Then again, so was Rickman. And makeup and prosthetics have helped many an actor “ugly up” for a role. But films and television productions often change the look of a character from their book versions. Often, the purpose seems to be to make a character more conventionally attractive for a visual medium, but it is equally likely to be because an actor who is otherwise an excellent choice for a role doesn’t quite fit the description. Or they don’t want to look unattractive, no matter how good the role. (There’s a reason Bette Davis was lauded for her “courage” to assume a hag-like appearance in 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? )
And, as we saw with Rickman and Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara, a successful performance can almost obliterate the memory of what a character looked like in the book.
So why is skin color more of an issue than hair or eye color, or perceived beauty, for that matter?
That’s the important question here, right?
I think Lithgow is a fine choice. His Winston Churchill in Netflix’s The Crown should be enough to convince folks that at least one American can do justice to a Genuine British Institution. There are, of course, concerns about his age and ability to make it through the whole series (he’ll likely hit 90 when the final season airs), but heck, Dumbledore was 115 when he died, so there’s that verisimilitude folks claim to want. And Lithgow probably has good health insurance.
I would also have been happy with Jared Harris (from Chernobyl, also Richard Harris’s son) or Morgan Freeman, whose name was bandied about as a possibility early on. Both are terrific actors and have the presence combined with kindness that a Dumbledore needs.
To be honest, I’m pleased McTeer (of Tumbleweeds fame) is in the lead. She’s an excellent actor, and as a bonus she fits the McGonagall I have in my mind’s eye — slim, sharp-featured, with a certain gravitas — better than either of the previous rumored frontrunners (Weisz and Horgan).
I would also have liked Succession’s Harriet Walter (although at 74 she’s probably too old, especially given the retconned age for McG). Ditto Phyllis Logan (69, but bonus points for being a Scot) or Lillete Dubey (71, Mrs. Kapoor in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). At 61, Michelle Fairley (of Game of Thrones fame, also Hermione’s mum, briefly, in Deathly Hallows, Part I) might pull it off.
In the realm of the more chronologically apt, fan faves Eva Green (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) and Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who’s Missy, and bonus Scot points) weren’t on my radar, but they certainly could look the part.
I do like the idea of an actual Scottish actor in the part (if only because they’ll handle the accent better — we could maybe even get an authentic Caithness sound?) Shirley Henderson (previously Moaning Myrtle) and Kelly Macdonald (the Grey Lady in the final film) could work.
Then there’s Cate Blanchett. Not only does she have the bone structure and the acting chops, she could do McG’s imperiousness and her wry humor like no one else. (And I like to look at her.)
Essiedu is a fine choice. The only other idea is disappointingly pedestrian: Adam Driver — Kylo Ren and the dream lover of many a fervid Snapian.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, of course) would also be good, but at 48 he’s probably aged out if one wants a Snape who’s convincingly in his 30s.
Maybe it’s weird to have an “ideal” Madam Hooch, but my fantasy actor for Hogwarts’ flying instructor and Quidditch ref has long been Nina Sosanya (Liz in Baby Reindeer). I just picture her on a broom. But I couldn’t tell you why.
As for all the other characters … I don’t really think about them enough to have fancasty ideas about them.
If y’all have any thoughts on casting, I’d love to hear them.
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