HBO's Harry Potter television series has cast three more roles for its second season, with Rafe Spall taking on the part of Arthur Weasley, Ron Weasley's father, as filming is set to begin in a matter of weeks.
Molly Hewitt-Richards has been cast as the ghost Moaning Myrtle, while Jasper Ambrose will play the photographer Colin Creevey. Season one of the big-budget show is set to air on Christmas Day, with production already well underway on its second run.
Spall will follow in the footsteps of his father, Timothy Spall, who played Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, in five of the original Harry Potter films. In the HBO series, Arthur Weasley was previously played by Mark Williams.
Moaning Myrtle and Colin Creevey cast
Hewitt-Richards previously starred in the ITV drama Code of Silence. She takes on the role of Moaning Myrtle, the melancholy Hogwarts ghost who was played by Shirley Henderson in the film series.
Ambrose, who starred in the recent Bridget Jones film, will play Colin Creevey, the eager young photographer previously portrayed by Hugh Mitchell.
Season one cast and release
The HBO reboot stars 12-year-old Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, a role first played by Daniel Radcliffe, now 37. Alastair Stout plays Ron Weasley, previously portrayed by Rupert Grint, 38, while Arabella Stanton completes the trio as Hermione Granger, the part played by Emma Watson, 36, in the 2000s films.
Speaking to the BBC about landing the lead role, McLaughlin said he was always a huge Harry Potter fan when he was younger and called it the dream role. He described the experience as a bit surreal, adding that he was thrilled to be doing it.
Details of the new show have been kept tightly under wraps, though author J.K. Rowling posted on X in June last year that she had read the scripts for the first two episodes, calling them "SO, SO, SO GOOD."
Controversy surrounding the series
Since it was announced in 2023, the Harry Potter series has drawn controversy from anti-Rowling activists, with Nicholas Hoult pulling out of the project last week. Rowling is a vocal defender of women's rights but has been labelled transphobic by some campaigners, and several actors who have joined the new series have faced criticism from those calling for a boycott of any remakes of her work. Rowling serves as an executive producer on the HBO show.
The series has been dubbed the "streaming event of the decade," and many former fans have vowed to boycott it over Rowling's comments about transgender people. Bosses are reportedly hoping the appeal of the franchise will outweigh the backlash.
Cast dropouts and on-set incidents
With under four months until the Christmas Day release, the production has already faced several setbacks. In May, it emerged that the actor cast as Ginny Weasley had dropped out of the project. There have also been reports of thefts from the prop room, and the series does not have the backing of original film director Chris Columbus.
Paapa Essiedu, who plays Severus Snape, a role previously taken by Alan Rickman, said he has received death threats since being cast. He said trolls believe a Black man should not play the fictional wizard, with one message telling him to quit or be murdered.
The production has also faced accusations described as "alarming" of bullying on set, including claims that two 12-year-old extras were seen fighting. Reports in March said Warner Bros. bosses stepped in to issue warnings to both adult and child cast and crew members, threatening to remove anyone involved regardless of their fame.
A source said there are a lot of youngsters on set at any one time, and not everyone is going to get on, calling it an alarming problem that bosses want to address by removing any "bad eggs" among the cast and crew. The source added that bosses have made clear that anyone reported for bullying will be immediately axed, no matter how famous they are.
HBO's Harry Potter series is set to premiere on Christmas Day on HBO Max.
