Remember when Nicholas Hoult was cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in season two of HBO’s Harry Potter TV show?
Well, say goodbye to that recollection because the network has modified the casting, much in the same way Lockhart modified the memories of more competent witches and wizards.
Who is Playing Gilderoy Lockhart in HBO’s Harry Potter TV Show?
Due to conflicts with Hoult’s hectic schedule, the hilariously inept Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and publicity hound will now be played by Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington, confirmed Variety. It seems the obvious choice, given the fact that Harington already voiced Lockhart for Audible’s full-cast editions of the Potter books.
“There’s a little part of Lockhart in all of us, and there’s more than a little bit of Lockhart in me,” Harington told Variety last year while discussing the Audible project. “So I didn’t need to stretch too far. I knew that if you’re coming in and doing audio, you’re gonna go quite big for a character like that. I didn’t want to play him too suave. He is that much removed from reality that he can be as big as you like.”
“I like Lockhart,” he continued. “I can see the trap he’s fallen into. I’ve probably fallen into it many times in my life being an actor. He’s a wonderful fable for anyone in the creative arts about getting ahead of yourself, hubris and this terrible lesson about seeing who you are but everyone else can see who you are. There’s a fear that we all have, like ‘Am I who I think I am or is everyone laughing at me behind my back?'”
While he’s got the handsome visage down pat, Harington doesn’t have the wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes the character is said to have when J.K. Rowling first describes him in Chamber of Secrets.
Not entirely book accurate, but still an effective way to set the small screen version of Lockhart apart from Keneth Branagh’s interpretation featured in the 2002 film adaptation of the second book. Unless, of course, Harington decides to bleach his hair and wears contact lenses.
His casting marks the second bit of major recasting for the HBO project following Gracie Cochrane’s exit as Ginny Weasley in May.
In any case, he joins an already-massive ensemble cast comprised of well over two dozen actors, including John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid), Paapa Essiedu (Severus Snape), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall). The big mystery right now, though, is who will be cast to play the series’ overarching baddie, Lord Voldemort.
When Does The Harry Potter TV Show Come Out?
Season one, based on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, premieres on HBO Christmas 2026.
