With a blithe ignorance that belies belief, a sextet of thespians have signed on for the upcoming HBO Original series Harry Potter and the Poisoned Chalice.1
HBO’s Harry Potter TV show approaches with the grim inevitability of the heat death of the universe. As ever, its passage will be heralded by a slew of publicity announcements that carefully stick the facts, the whole facts, and nothing but the facts, carefully excising anything that might be mistaken for cultural context. Hey, I guess they got a job to do. Publicity’s a tough racket.
Okay, here we go.
In a press release that hit my inbox at 11.02pm (always a sign of confidence), Max publicity confirmed the casting of John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and man, that last one stings a bit. All will be regulars in the upcoming Harry Potter series, whose exact date of infliction has yet to be revealed.
Also announced: Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch. Thallon, playing… the guy in the turban? I think? Anyway, Thallon brings to the role all the strength and artistic brio evident in his sole film role to date in the acclaimed 2018 costume drama The Favourite, where he played Abigail’s Soldier (uncredited).
As for the primary four, between them they boast a veritable hoard of award wins and nominations: Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Tonys, a few Oliviers, even an Oscar nomination. That’d be Lithgow, who copped a Best Supporting Actor nod for 1982’s The World According to Garp, in which he played trans woman Roberta Muldoon.
As it happens, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who enjoyed a long tenure as one of the world’s most beloved authors before devoting herself fulltime to being absolutely insufferable on X (formerly Twitter) has some opinions on trans women that you may have gotten wind of.
Speaking to Collider, Lithgow responded to the furor, noting, “There’s a good deal of controversy,” before going on to say “I just have to do my best.”
Oh, hang on – he was talking about Dumbledore being played by an American. Not, you know, the other thing. During the production of the eight Harry Potter films, Rowling insisted on only British and Irish actors being cast. It’s unknown whether she has any conditions on the casting of the TV series, but we could hazard a few guesses.
Yet to be announced are the young actors taking on the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, the central trio of the franchise. Whoever they turn out to be, the young up and comers can look forward to a bright future of keeping their public views in absolute lockstep with the author’s, or else.
Whenever it arrives, and whoever else is in it, Harry Potter will be streaming in Australia on Max.
- Not the actual title. Probably. ↩︎
MORE IN News
