Nearly three decades ago, author J.K. Rowling mesmerized readers with the wizarding world of “Harry Potter.” With seven novels, eight original films, three prequel movies, and a Broadway production, the franchise has grown like no other. Even now, as multiple generations continue to debate the merits of Gryffindor and Slytherin, “Harry Potter” keeps expanding. HBO plans to adapt the seven books into a decade-long series, reviving the beloved characters with a show that promises to stay true to the books.
But do mere Muggles have what it takes to join the ranks of the world’s most wondrous wizards? This guide features everything you need to know about the series, including who the casting director is and what type of talent they like to see in the audition room.
JUMP TO
- What is “Harry Potter” about?
- Who is developing the new “Harry Potter” series?
- Who is in the cast of HBO’s “Harry Potter”?
- Who is the casting director for “Harry Potter”?
- How does the casting process work for “Harry Potter”?
- When does filming for “Harry Potter” Season 2 start?
- Where to find “Harry Potter” casting calls and auditions
- What are the best audition tips for landing a role on “Harry Potter”?
“Harry Potter” begins when the 11-year-old title character, an orphan living with his unkind aunt and uncle, learns he’s a wizard and accepts an invitation to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry soon discovers he’s famous throughout the magical community because of his connection to the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. Years earlier, Voldemort had tried to rule the wizarding world, killing anyone who stood in his way, including Harry’s parents. However, when Voldemort attempted to kill 1-year-old Harry, his curse rebounded, leaving the young boy with a lightning bolt scar and He Who Must Not Be Named gone—or so the wizarding world thought.
Enrolled at Hogwarts, Harry befriends the genial Ron Weasley and the bookish Hermione Granger. The trio becomes fast friends as they embark on a years-long adventure to vanquish Voldemort and his followers for good. (They even squeeze in a game or two of Quidditch!)
On June 26, 2024, HBO announced the writer and director for its new “Harry Potter” series. Francesca Gardiner (“Succession,” “His Dark Materials,” “Killing Eve”) is the series’ writer, co-showrunner, and executive producer, while Mark Mylod (“Game of Thrones,” “Succession,” “The Last of Us”) has signed on to executive produce and direct multiple episodes.
HBO’s “Harry Potter” series is also executive produced by Rowling, Neil Blair (“The Casual Vacancy,” “Fantastic Beasts”), and Ruth Kenley-Letts (“C.B. Strike”). David Heyman, who produced the “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” films, has also joined as an executive producer. Jon Brown (“Succession”) wrote the first Season and is a co-showrunner for Season 2.
Credit: Aidan Monaghan/HBO
On May 27, 2025, HBO revealed its new main trio:
- Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter
- Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger
- Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley
“After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron,” said Gardiner and Mylod. “The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It’s been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.”
In February 2025, Academy Award–nominated actor John Lithgow (“Conclave,” “The Crown”) confirmed he had signed on to play Professor Albus Dumbledore. “It was not an easy decision because it’s going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I’m afraid,” Lithgow told ScreenRant. “But I’m very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That’s why it’s been such a hard decision. I’ll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I’ve said yes.”
Deadline also confirmed Tony winner and two-time Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (“Ozark,” “The Menu”) will play Professor Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu (“I May Destroy You,” “Genie”) will play Professor Severus Snape, and actor-comedian Nick Frost will play beloved half-giant Rubeus Hagrid. The late (and legendary) Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and Robbie Coltrane played the three characters in the original films, respectively.
Other cast members include:
- Luke Thallon as Professor Quirinus Quirrell
- Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch
- Warwick Davis as Professor Filius Flitwick
- Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy
- Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley
- Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy
- Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan
- Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil
- Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown
- Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley
- Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley
- Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge.
- Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom
- Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley
- Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch
- Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander
- Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley
- Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley
- Gabriel Harland as George Weasley
- Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley
- Richard Durden as Professor Cuthbert Binns
According to Deadline, Season 2 will welcome “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington into the fold as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Nicholas Hoult (“Superman,” “Nosferatu”) was originally slated to play the role but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict.
Variety reported that Season 2 will see Lenny Rush step into the role of Dobby the house-elf, Billy Barratt will play Tom Riddle, and Bonnie Hill will portray Ginny Weasley. Gracie Cochrane played the youngest Weasley in Season 1 but had to step away due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
The actor playing the franchise’s iconic villain, Lord Voldemort, hasn’t been revealed, but that hasn’t stopped speculation or fan castings. “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy’s name was once in the mix, as was Ralph Fiennes, who played you-know-who in the films. Weighing in on the gossip in an interview on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live,” Fiennes said, “Cillian is a fantastic actor. That’s a wonderful suggestion. I would be all in favor of Cillian.”
HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told Collider, “As a rule, I would say any rumors—don’t [believe them]. I don’t even know who we’re casting. I really don’t!” It seems this particular casting choice will remain locked away in the series’ chamber of secrets for now.
Bevan and Brockmann are the primary CDs for HBO’s new “Harry Potter” series. Bevan is known for casting hits like “Barbie,” “The Batman,” and “Belfast.”
As for how to get Bevan’s attention in the audition room, she shared in an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation that she notices “when an actor comes in and they’ve really prepped. They’ve really thought about it, they’ve got an idea, they’ve got a way of doing it, they’re ready to take direction and make adjustments—I think that’s the really key thing,” she said. “Don’t get locked into some idea. Be ready to take direction. But I think the best way to do that is to be prepped.”
While the new “Harry Potter” series has recruited a number of big names to fill out its roster, the team issued an open casting call for U.K. and Ireland residents in 2024 to cast the main three characters. Bevan and Brockmann told Variety that children could submit their initial auditions online, and the two viewed about 40,000 tapes before finding the perfect trio to usher in this new era.
Much like those who made the original films such a hit, the new team wanted to tap relative unknowns. So, there’s much to learn from what went into casting Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, respectively, in the film franchise, as each lead had a completely different audition experience.
According to the first film's director, Chris Columbus, Radcliffe was discovered after a long search that included seeing hundreds of actors for the part. Columbus said he spotted Radcliffe on the cover of a “David Copperfield” videotape in the casting office and immediately knew he had found Harry Potter. After seeing Radcliffe’s screen test, Columbus says Rowling validated the choice. “Her comment was to the effect, ‘I feel as if I’ve been reunited with my long-lost son.’”
As for Harry’s lovable sidekick, Grint said he first auditioned for Ron by sending in a self-tape. “I decided to do my own audition video, pretending to be one of my drama teachers. Then I made up this rap song about how much I wanted to be in the film,” he recalled. “I guess it worked, because I had a bunch of auditions. It was so cool when I was cast. It was the coolest moment in my life. I’d just been doing school plays and stuff. I was a fish in ‘Noah’s Ark,’ and then I was in ‘Harry Potter’—that’s a big step!”
Meanwhile, Watson was discovered when a casting team visited her school. She told Interview, “There was no open audition—they went all over England to find these characters, and not just drama schools.” After enduring eight rounds, she nearly lost hope upon seeing a more experienced rival: “I can remember just crumbling at the sight of her, thinking, She’s been in a film before, and she knows how to do this. I have no chance.” Yet as a massive fan of the books, she felt an unstoppable connection to the role, explaining, “I just felt like that part belonged to me.… She came so naturally to me.”
Filming for Season 1 began in July 2025 and wrapped in mid-2026—and it appears the series won’t be pumping the brakes anytime soon. Collider reported that Season 2 started filming in August 2026 (even though Season 1 won’t drop until Christmas Day 2026), setting an ambitious production schedule to stay consistent with the kids’ ages.
In September 2024, HBO held open casting calls for Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Production sought talent local to the U.K. and Ireland, aged 9–11 as of April 2025, to play the show’s three leads. Those who met the requirements were encouraged to submit two self-tapes by Oct. 31. The first video was to be a reading of a short poem or story of the applicant’s choosing (they advised avoiding anything related to “Harry Potter”). The second was to be a personal introduction, including the applicant’s date of birth, height, and location. The notice also said that the production is “committed to inclusive, diverse casting.”
For more calls, actors can check out this roundup of streaming gigs currently casting. Our guide to auditioning for HBO Max is also a great resource for those looking for more advice.
Credit: Lara Cornell/HBO
HBO’s new “Harry Potter” stars are probably too fresh to the industry to share any tips, but the original cast has plenty of audition advice to pass down.
For Grint, the “Harry Potter” set was his first real foray into professional acting. “In terms of training, [I had] nothing,” Grint told us. “But really, when I started ‘Potter,’ being on set and being surrounded by so many amazing actors was an education for all of us, really—just watching how everyone works. And we were so lucky that we had a huge range of different actors and different directors. Through osmosis, when you’re young, you really soak up that stuff. When we finished, it did kind of feel like we were graduating.”
However, to this day, Grint finds self-tapes rather difficult—but he’s found a way to succeed on that front, too. “I struggle with self-tape. I think I’m better in a room with people. Just talking to a screen, especially if you don’t have anyone to do the lines with you, you’re kind of doing a scene with yourself. It’s difficult—I think the more you do, the easier it becomes; you kind of find your groove,” he explained. “If you commit to the character, if you put everything into that and don’t do it half-hearted, it’ll come through. But it’s definitely a challenge, and it’s something I still struggle with, for sure.”
Oscar winner Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black in the films, has decades of experience in the business, yet when it comes to audition advice, he has just one tip: “Breathe and take your time. If they’re horrid to you, then maybe they weren’t worth working for anyway.”
Lithgow, the next generation’s Dumbledore, told us the piece of advice he offers all younger actors. “Have something in your life that is all yours, some creative thing in your life that doesn’t depend on somebody else hiring you from an audition,” he told us. “Don’t wait around for the phone to ring. Try writing, take tap dancing lessons, try directing. Just experiment with lots of creative outlets. Develop a project that is all yours and work toward that project. Chances are you’ll never be able to do it because you’ll be hired to act, but it keeps you feeling like a creative person all the time, and I follow that to this day.”
When the late Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape, was asked to write a letter of advice to his 16-year-old self for the book “Dear Me,” the acclaimed actor noted that the best idea was not to follow any advice at all. “If, in future years, anyone asks you to give advice to your 16-year-old self…don’t,” he wrote. “Make your own unique messes, and then work your own way out of them.”
