HBO has announced the first casting for its HBO Original Harry Potter series, including a number of West End stars.
Harry Potter will star six-time Emmy, two-time Tony Award, Olivier winner, and BAFTA and Oscar nominee John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore. Earlier this month John Lithgow won the 2025 Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in Giant, which is transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End from 26 April.
Other cast includes Emmy, Olivier, and BAFTA nominee Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. The Ian Charleson Award winner’s latest stage project, a revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons starring Bryan Cranston and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, went on sale today for the Wyndham’s Theatre in autumn 2025. Essiedu was nominated for a 2025 Olivier Award for his performance in Death Of England: Delroy.
Olivier winner and Oscar and Emmy nominee Janet McTeer, who starred in Phaedra at the National Theatre in 2023, will play Minerva McGonagall, immortalised in the movies by Dame Maggie Smith.
Stage and screen star Luke Thallon (Patriots – Almeida, West End, Broadway), who recently starred as Hamlet in Rupert Goold’s new production for the RSC, will play Quirinus Quirrell; with film star and BIFA nominee Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid; and five-time BAFTA winner Paul Whitehouse, who is currently starring as Grandad in the UK tour of Only Fools and Horses The Musical, playing Argus Filch.
Further casting is to be announced.
Francesca Gardiner, showrunner and executive producer of the series, and Mark Mylod, director of multiple episodes and executive producer, said in a joint statement: “We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch. We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”
The new series promises to be a faithful adaptation of the Harry Potter book series.
The acclaimed West End stage production featuring Harry Potter characters, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, continues its successful run at the Palace Theatre in London.
The upcoming series is written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner. Mark Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by Brontë Film and TV and Heyday Films.
Book Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets at the Palace Theatre London
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