TV & Beyond on 2025-06-09 16:40:46

by | Jun 9, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles | 0 comments

TV & Beyond on 2025-06-09 16:40:46

the main trio (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger) and a bunch of professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Albus Dumbledore included). Katherine Parkinson, known for small screen projects like “Humans” and “The IT Crowd,” will portray Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the Weasley family played by Julie Walters in the films and mother of Ron (Alastair Stout is set to star as Ron). Nobody has picked up the mantle of the late Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy as of this writing, but her son Draco, originally played by Tom Felton, will be portrayed by Lox Pratt; his father Lucius Malfoy, originally played by Jason Isaacs, will now be portrayed by Johnny Flynn (an actor known for “Stardust,” “Emma,” and the Netflix series “Ripley”).

Hogwarts students who start school at the same time as Harry Potter himself (who’s being played by Dominic McLaughlin) — Seamus Finnigan, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown — will be portrayed by Leo Earley, Alessia Leoni, and Sienna Moosah, respectively. Rounding out this casting announcement is Bertie Carvel (Tony Blair in later seasons of “The Crown”) as Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and Bel Powley and Daniel Rigby as Petunia and Vernon Dursley, Harry’s cruel and abusive aunt and uncle. (Powley was recently seen in “Masters of the Air,” while Rigby played the titular Waldo in “The Waldo Moment,” an early episode of “Black Mirror.”)

Casting younger performers for the Harry Potter series makes it clear that they’re in for the long haul

Molly Weasley smiling with her hands on her hips in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Warner Bros.

If you’re familiar with the “Harry Potter” books penned by Joanne “J.K.” Rowling, you know that, in the original movies, a bunch of the adults were quite a bit older than they were supposed to be. As of this writing, we don’t know who’s set to play Harry’s late parents James and Lily (who will likely only be seen in flashbacks anyway), but Adrian Rawlins and Geraldine Somerville, who portrayed them in the original film franchise, weren’t in their early 20s. This is important because, canonically, Lily and James are both around 21 years old when they’re murdered by the Dark Lord Voldemort (portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in the back half of the movie series), and a lot of the adults in the “Harry Potter” universe are on the young side, especially the parental figures. (This can be explained by the fact that everyone in the “Harry Potter” universe seems to marry their high school sweethearts, and based on the timelines we’re given in the novels, they start families pretty quickly.)

There’s also a practical element at play here, which is that these actors may be sticking around for the long haul … assuming the series succeeds the way its producers hope. All of the press surrounding the “Harry Potter” TV show has noted that it will be an incredibly faithful adaptation of Rowling’s books, and word on the street is that it’s going to devote a single season to each novel. With that said, I can absolutely see a future where showrunner Francesca Gardiner decides to split up some of the longer books into multiple seasons (the United States edition of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” for example, is a whopping 870 pages). Casting younger performers means they won’t be awkwardly old by the time the series does conclude. Still, a larger question remains: Will the “Harry Potter” series go the distance?

Will the Harry Potter TV series really last for seven seasons — or a decade?

Petunia hiding behind Vernon in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Warner Bros.

The controversy surrounding the “Harry Potter” TV adaptation sometimes feels a bit insular, as if it’s only recognized by people who are chronically online (like me) — so let me attempt to break it down a bit here. Since 2020, Joanne “J.K.” Rowling, who adopted the pen name “J.K.” to sell more books to young boys at her publisher’s suggestion, has been espousing cruel and frankly vindictive views about the transgender community, focusing her ire on transgender women in particular. This situation has escalated rapidly to the point where, after a Supreme Court ruling in the United Kingdom barred transgender people from using bathrooms that line up with their preferred gender identity (among other things), Rowling posted a victorious photo of herself smoking a cigar on what appeared to be a yacht in response. She is now personally funding further legislation and other measures that would limit the freedoms of transgender people in the UK.

Obviously this is relevant to the “Harry Potter” TV series because Rowling wrote the books, but she’s also an executive producer on the HBO series and will likely work very closely with creatives like Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod, who signed on as a director and executive producer. Rowling’s beliefs have produced wildly different reactions from new and former cast members; Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, who played the original trio, have all expressed support for the trans community, while the new Albus Dumbledore, John Lithgow, played down her views. Meanwhile, Tom Felton, the original Draco Malfoy, just provided a definitive non-answer regarding Rowling’s beliefs during an interview about his turn (as Draco again) in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the stage play penned by Rowling. Actors will be asked about Rowling’s crusade against trans women in the lead-up to the “Harry Potter” show, and these types of questions are unlikely to vanish when it starts airing.

That’s why I have to wonder if this series will make it through seven (or more) seasons. Many “Harry Potter” fans are dismayed, hurt, and disappointed by Rowling’s actions and views. There’s still significant interest in the franchise as a whole, but this is a major stumbling block that, honestly, can’t be overlooked and could cast a pall over the entire project. As more casting news breaks about the series, Lithgows will lend support to Rowling, actors like Paapa Essiedu (the new Severus Snape) will sign petitions supporting the transgender community, and performers will be lightly interrogated about the controversy. Until the show does start airing, the original “Harry Potter” movies are on Peacock now.

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