The hallways of Hogwarts will be bustling on screen once again, and we already know who we’d like to see walking them.
Following the April announcement that HBO Max has ordered a Harry Potter TV adaptation to series, Team TVLine has conjured its own ideas for who might play some of the franchise’s most iconic characters.
As you’ll notice in our wish list below — which includes a Ted Lasso star, a former Doctor Who leading man and not one, but two Lucifer alumni — we haven’t dream-cast every Harry Potter role, as J.K. Rowling’s novels feature dozens of characters that flit in and out of her fictional world. We’ve also kept our picks to adult roles only; we suspect many of the young Hogwarts students, including Harry, will be played by relative newcomers, and we admit our knowledge of 11-year-old British thespians is limited.
Instead, we’ve made our picks for nearly 20 of Harry Potter‘s adult cast members, many of whom will appear in the show’s first season. (HBO Max has already made a 10-year commitment to its Harry Potter project, so we’ll see some of these other characters down the road.)
Keep scrolling to see all of our Harry Potter dream castings, then drop a comment with your own!
Previous Credits: Doctor Who, The Musketeers, Big Mouth
Who He’d Succeed: Michael Gambon (who took over for Richard Harris after he passed away in 2002)
Having previously played Doctor Who‘s title character, we’re eager to see Capaldi inhabit another legendary, fantastical role. And we’re confident he would calmly ask Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire.
Previous Credits: The Newsroom, Lion, Slumdog Millionaire
Who He’d Succeed: Alan Rickman
Whoever does land the role of Severus Snape will have big shoes to fill: Rickman’s portrayal of the mysterious Potions professor remains beloved, particularly after Rickman’s passing in 2016. But we think Patel, a previous Oscar nominee for Lion, has the magnetism to pull it off — and though HBO Max’s series has been described as a “faithful” adaptation of Rowling’s books, we’d love to see a little more diversity in Hogwarts’ faculty this time around.
Previous Credits: The Crown, Heartstopper, Great Expectations
Who She’d Succeed: Maggie Smith
Do we really need to sell anyone on this? There’s no better fit, really, short of Maggie Smith time-warping and playing the role all over again.
Previous Credits: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Mindy Project, The Social Network
Who He’d Succeed: David Thewlis
In some twisted way, The Handmaid’s Tale‘s general dourness has made us curious to see what Minghella could do as Remus Lupin, arguably one of Harry Potter‘s moodiest characters. Here’s hoping he gets a better CGI werewolf counterpart than Thewlis did.
Previous Credits: Heartstopper, Dangerous Liaisons
Who He’d Succeed: Ian Hart
Akinade has already captivated us in his brief appearances as Heartstopper‘s mild-mannered-yet-effective Mr. Ajayi. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone‘s poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell would be a fascinating next role for the actor.
Previous Credits: Prodigal Son, Good Omens, Masters of Sex
Who He’d Succeed: Brendan Gleeson
There seems to be no genre Sheen can’t master. The super-serious drama of Masters of Sex? Yup. The lightning-fast comedy of 30 Rock? Also yes. The fantasy of Good Omens? You bet. But if we’re being honest, it was Sheen’s two-season turn as Prodigal Son‘s Martin Whitly, in all of its glorious wildness, that has us convinced he’d be the perfect Mad-Eye.
Previous Credits: Lucifer, Miranda, Rush
Who He’d Succeed: Gary Oldman
If Ellis can make us root for even the Devil himself (and he did!), then he’s the perfect fit for the misunderstood Sirius Black. The only downside? We’d presumably have to wait until Season 3 to see him, when HBO Max’s series likely takes on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Previous Credits: Game of Thrones, Our Flag Means Death
Who He’d Succeed: Robbie Coltrane
Nairn memorably played Game of Thrones‘ beloved Hodor for several years, and we don’t mean to pigeonhole him as gentle giants whose names start with H. But, c’mon: This one just makes sense, right?
Previous Credits: Stranger Things, Will, The Twilight Saga
Who He’d Succeed: Ralph Fiennes
And, uh, not to pigeonhole Bower as one-named “V” villains — he’s best known for his recent turn as Stranger Things‘ terrifying Vecna — but we already know he’s got the command and charisma to play Harry Potter‘s Big Bad. There is one roadblock: He previously appeared as a young Gellert Grindelwald in both the seventh Harry Potter film and its 2018 offshoot Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. But hey, if HBO Max’s Voldemort lacks a nose the same way Fiennes’ version did, then we’ll hardly recognize Bower anyway.
Previous Credits: Lucifer, The Librarians, Spartacus
Who She’d Succeed: Helena Bonham Carter
Brandt’s many years of sarcasm and sauntering as Lucifer‘s Mazikeen — sorry, Mazi-queen — make her more than qualified to raise some hell for Harry & Co. as the villainous Death Eater.
Previous Credits: Ted Lasso, Sex Education, Krypton
Who She’d Succeed: Helen McCrory
It’s not just Waddingham’s enchanting, Emmy-winning work as Ted Lasso‘s Rebecca that makes us want to see her play Draco Malfoy’s complicated mother: It was also her all-too-brief appearance as a witch in Disney+’s Hocus Pocus sequel last year. Get this woman back in a cloak, please!
Previous Credits: Sleepy Hollow, Watchmen, See
Who He’d Succeed: Jason Isaacs
Mison’s recent TV work has shown quite a bit of versatility, and we’re having fun picturing him in full-villain mode as Draco Malfoy’s dastardly father. Plus, paired with Waddingham as Narcissa? Now we’re truly all in on this fantasy.
Previous Credits: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Better Things, The Office (U.K.)
Who She’d Succeed: Fiona Shaw
Aunt Petunia’s harsh, cold demeanor would be quite the pivot from Aunt Hilda, who Davis played on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — and that’s exactly why we’d love to see her tackle the role. A veteran of British TV and film (The Office! Shaun of the Dead!), the actress would no doubt bring a memorable (and likely quite funny) interpretation to Harry’s reluctant caretaker.
Previous Credits: Little Britain, Doctor Who, Bridesmaids
Who He’d Succeed: Richard Griffiths
From Les Misérables‘ Thénardier to Alice in Wonderland‘s Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Lucas has lots of experience playing nefarious oddballs. We just know he’d nail Uncle Vernon’s sad cruelty… which we promise is a compliment!
Previous Credits: Sex Education, Ender’s Game, Hugo
Who He’d Succeed: Adrian Rawlins
The film adaptations of Harry Potter seemed to forget that Harry’s parents, James and Lily, were only 21 years old when they died at Lord Voldemort’s hand. Butterfield, who’s currently 26, would be an age-appropriate pick for James’ appearances throughout the series.
Previous Credits: The Politician, The Ipcress File, Bohemian Rhapsody
Who She’d Succeed: Geraldine Somerville
In a fun bit of trivia, Boynton’s first credit was the 2006 film Miss Potter (though the young Beatrix Potter that she played is, of course, unrelated to the wizards). Now 29, Boynton certainly looks the part of Harry Potter’s gone-too-soon mother — including the piercing eyes that Harry inherits from her.
Previous Credits: Andor, Black Panther, The Lord of the Rings
Who He’d Succeed: David Bradley
Serkis’ recent turn as Andor‘s Kino Loy only made us want to see him in more live-action television projects. He seems a perfect fit for Hogwarts’ curmudgeonly caretaker — and an ideal cat dad to Mrs. Norris.
Or perhaps don’t cast ANYONE for this idea. the original films are iconic and far to recent to be redone.
Agreed. It’s borderline blasphemous. I thought the books and the movies were perfect, as is. That being said, it’s going to get done and I really can’t say no to Andy Serkis being cast in any role. Love that guy.
I enjoyed the films… but let’s stop pretending they’re ‘perfect’. There was a lot of great stuff in the books that didn’t make it into the films—for instance, everything with Hermione’s founding of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.).
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There is surely room for *both* the existing films and a TV series.
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Also: Ben Whishaw as Snape.
Agreed. The books and the movies were, at times, wildly different, and while they had some truly awesome additions, the movies left half the story out (or twisted things – badly). Loved the movies casting as much as a human can, though.
I agree, there is lots in the books that can fill a season-long TV show that could not go into a movie.
Harry Melling was in the original as a child actor and he did a nice villain in Old Guard- i could see him as Lucian Malfoy.
Like most things, I’ll wait and see. And hasn’t Dev Patel suffered enough with playing a villain once already? Kidding…kind of. Anyway, in regards to S.P.E.W. – absolutely not. It was one of best decisions for the filmmakers to not include it in the movies. Why? Picture this: a Caucasian protagonist is responsible for an organization that frees slaves. We have enough ‘White Savior’ troupes in literature, film and television not mention fantasy.
Given the casting of The Cursed Child, I would be very surprised if Hermione is white in this iteration.
You should really read the books before you post this stuff
I love the books and have read them all too many times to even count at this point. I also liked the movies and rewatch them. But, let’s not pretend they were perfect. The books have too much material for movies. Many things were left out due to time. A show will allow all of those elements to be in the show. I’d love to see Peeves and Winky. I think the movies are classics and will always stand on their own. But, if done well, I think that a show can use the longer time they have to make a more complete adaptation.
OK, nothing is perfect, but for me, I enjoyed the movies as they were. What was spot-on for me was the casting. I honestly couldn’t imagine or want anyone else playing those characters. As much as I adore the books and subsequently, the movies, this tv series will be a hard pass for me.
I do hope they blow it out of the park, though, for the fans. If anyone can tell a story and do it well, it would be HBO.
Some movies were good and OK and some where just terrible for people who loved the books. I think these Books would make a WAY better TV show and it could even add to the books instead of taking away for run time sakes.
Yes, the films are iconic. But Max (fka HBO Max) isn’t redoing the movies – they’re making a TV series from the books, so this is new. Why wouldn’t any HP fan want long-form, episodic TV which will allow for more depth of storyline and characters that the movies couldn’t always afford?
I get it but look what they did to the ending of Game of Thrones. They won’t get it a hundred percent right with the fans and purists of the books. They may split first season into two parts and will be stuck with the series being potentially cancel if their is too many seasons in the bag. So many what ifs until the series is watched if it gets off the ground all together.
The difference is, they ran out of book material for Game of Thrones by the end of season 5. That is not a concern in this case.
Yup. Referencing Lord of the Rings is more apt.
It’s impossible to please fan groups. Fandom for pretty much everything has become toxic as can be. Take your example of GOT… people lost their collective you know what at the final season, yet it wasn’t nearly as random as people want to complain. They foreshadowed Daenrys becoming another mad Targaryean early on in the series
Way to miss the point. Most people were ready for the mad queen, but not whatever that was by the last season. Its okay, you can’t get it through your head.
The film came out almost 22 years ago. Nothing recent about it.
Star Wars came out 47 years ago and it is still too soon to make a remake of those movies. A remake should be more than 50-60 years after. But since Hollywood has a dearth of original ideas, they seem to think 20 years is ok. I won’t be watching this. I am not giving JKR any more kudos or any more of my money.
And SW has been remastered, reeditied, remixed, etc. multiple times in between. And EP 4 WAS the ORIGINAL MATERIAL. It’s all there – there was nothing to leave out. With HP, the left or or changed half the books. The HP movies are quite a bit different in tone and content. Yes, the casting was perfect, but the plot transfer to screenplay was not (by a longshot).
No one cares about your politics. No need to bring in your non-sense ro this discussion. Your comment is now null and void.
And, obviously, a great many people disagree. Trust me, few people under 25 even know the series at all. You should see all the blank looks in my classes when I make a HP reference.
The films aren’t that good. They didn’t cover must of the stories in the books, and some of them are just bad.
I’m looking forward to watch the serie and hope this time the story is well tell and more acure .
Normally I’d agree, but there’s so much stuff left out from the later books, that I think a series could be a good idea. (If they can put the same production value into it.)
The original films are not “iconic”. The original films ruined so many great aspects of the books. And the last one came out 12 years ago.
These are horrendous except maybe 2 haha
I…I actually cannot argue with thus cast. And kudos for adding Lesley-Ann Brandt.
Is it a retelling of the series. It could be a prequel or a sequel. You never know, right? I think there is a potential for a continuation series if they correct things from the sequel book Harry Potter and The Cursed Child so a second book/series head towards the right goals for Harry at least.
They’ve already said that the series is based on the books. Each season will be based on one book.
It’s already been announced as a retelling. Each season will cover one book
I am not sold on your pick of James Potter…. I mean… James has always been described as really good looking, and with all due respect… Asa Butterfield isn’t exactly what you would call a “heartthrop”. Tbh, I rather see him as Lupin or even Peter Pettigrew.
Also not sold on the pick for Snape. I just can’t get my head off the idea of Adam Driver playing him.
Dev would make a better James, and Adam would be good for Snape.
Why would you sentence actors you nominally like to 10 years of race science liberalism written by a transphobe
No actors will be forced to participate.
All trans actors please.
Cheeky comment! But yes, that would upset the applecart! I am not interested in this simply because it is too soon and I am not interested in furthering JKR’s fortune.
Let’s put forward Mason Alexander Park as any role that would take up a lot of screen time. I love their work.
Agreed, but not in HP! Park deserves to be in roles where trans and enby folks are valued!
I know this is a playful fantasy post, but devoting bandwidth to this show is tantamount to supporting an incredibly toxic transphobic author (who will be making more money off this show) and it’s really gross and not at all a good look for TVLine.
You are quite correct!
I agree with your entire comment.
Lol OK…. you don’t know that JK is involved obviously! It’s gonna be almost all, if not all British cast
Dawn French as Dolores Umbridge!
And Jennifer Saunders as Divinations Professor Trelawney?
You do know that Bellatrix and Narcissa are sisters? Those 2 actresses look anything alike.
The choices for Lily Potter and Petunia Dursley (also sisters!) don’t look anything alike either.
I like Lucy Davis but for me she would be a big NO for Petunia. I think she’d be perfect for Prof. Sprout though. Petunia is scrawny and all neck. Lucy is just too likeable and Sprout is likeable.
I could care less on who’s in the cast as long as the story is good. I have no problem with a diverse cast and think it is a good thing. But don’t force it like what TV Line seems to want “we’d love to see a little more diversity in Hogwarts’ faculty this time around”. Do it in a way that makes sense, don’t force it, and don’t constantly remind us about it even if it doesn’t fit into the story. I could care less if the make Dumbledore into a black lesbian as long as it doesn’t detract from the story.
I hope they will stick again to British actors only. (And don’t force the diversity just for the sake of having different races! TV Line, some of your choices make no sense. Bellatrix and Narcissus were sisters!)
*Narcissa
The first article on here announcing the series said JK is involved in this. So I’d assume casting will stay true to the story
I’m so done with this diversity for the sake of diversity thing. This is a story that take place in UK, a place when 85% of the people is white. And, TVline is proposing a black and white couple to play sisters. I love both actors but come on, they look nothing alike. I want a proper adaptation of the books, don’t care that much about the race of the actors, but if they’re suppose to be related let show it (or they’re going to chance the story and made one of them adopted or half sisters).
Remember they made one of them adopted in Fantastic Four and it was a Fantastic FAIL. Nope, Bella and Cissy are full blooded sisters who are obsessed with being pure blood. They don’t need to look too much alike since one is fair and one is dark, but I’d like to see two real life look alike-ish sisters playing Bella and Andromeda.
I have a hard time believing JK Rowling would allow some characters to be played by diverse actors.
Rowling is the one who stood up for a Black actress playing Hermione in The Cursed Child when the racists were losing their s*** over it.
I mean, someone has to actively make a decision to to diversify this cast. So in that sense, it has to be forced. The show isn’t going to cast itself.
Kate Winslet as Dolores Umbridge!!
There hasn’t been a reboot, remake, or continuation in the last decade that hasn’t been a big disappointment causing fans to recon it from memory, this series will fare the same.
Hawai’i 5-0. Parenthood. What We Do in the Shadows. One Day at a Time. Perry Mason. Ghosts.
My dreamcast is the one from the movies. Let this terrible idea go.
1. Your only black actor is a bad guy
2. How many of these folks would touch this as it would be seen as agreeing with JKRs views? It will be all unknowns or out and proud transphobes.
i’m excited about this, but I don’t care a lot about the casting. I hated the movies, other than the first one, because i wanted so much more of the story to be told. they never even brought in the marauder back story and completely ignored the fact that Harry’s patronus was a stag like his father. They left out so much aqnd added nonsense. if a TV series can tell the whole story, delve deep and give us background, I will be happy.
How you gonna pick dev Patel as Snape?! He’s way too handsome lol. Adam Driver or bust!!!!! Lots of these are right on though – Tom Ellis as serious would he 🔥🔥🔥
Hannah Waddingham, yes Please! We’re huge Ted Lasso Fans in my house and my mom loves it, so we’d be extra excited if she signed on to play a role in the Harry Potter television series.
I can’t imagine any reputable stars will be lining up to get in bed with the transphobic and anti-Semitic Rowling.
Yeah, I’m fairly certain that neither Tom Ellis nor Lesley-Ann Brandt would touch this.
I’m actually going to be really sad if Kristian Nairn isn’t Hagrid now-I never would have thought of it, but it makes a lot of sense. Tom Ellis and a few of the others are much to old to play the marauders generation though. I like the idea of Tom Misson though and am intrigued by the notion of Dev Patel (but like Olivia Coleman, probably way to busy pursuing other projects).
Some of these are really bad.
The series is a bad idea. Just because there were scenes left out of the movies doesn’t mean they will make good content for a tv show. Including everything might amount to poor pacing or uneven episodes. Recall that the season-long movie format was often the downfall of Marvel tv projects, especially the early ones. Also, the series will suffer from never being allowed to exist independently from the movies. If it is too close in script or design to the movies, then what is the point of it? But if it is very different, will it still feel like HP? Also, I pity the actor that does a fine job, but everybody hates because they can’t live up to the fondness we all have for the original cast, like Alan Rickman’s Snape or Maggie Smith’s McGonagall. My ultimate opinion is that there just isn’t a need for a remake of any kind, and it screams “money grab,” which is sad, because without a genuine creative impetus, I think it’s bound to be mediocre, further dragging down what was once a great thing.
So… All the black suggestions should be for bad guys and the brown guy should be the one you think is evil but is really good but has to die to prove it. I guess the Hollywood producers writing articles now too 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Tom Ellis as Serius Black the werewolf omgoodness yes please 🙏 ♥ his acting is phenomenal 👏 and please make Leslie Ann Brandt a Harry Potter character 😀 😊
At least we know Pedro Pascal would never.
Some fine choices in there. Really doubt being able to get most of them. While we are dreaming… Why not Jude Law for Dumbledore? Nice continuity from Fantastic beasts.
Any suggestions for Gilderoy Lockhart? As much as I love Kenneth Branagh, and he did an acceptable job in the role, Cary Elwes would have been a much superior casting.
But now you could really go crazy with this casting. One direction would be complete guest casting – with someone like Harry Styles (see what I did there?). Or more serious but fabulous like Regé-Jean Page.
Really play up the glamour casting that is needed for the role.