Kenneth Branagh played the same role in the ‘Harry Potter’ films
Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty; Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.
NEED TO KNOW
- Nicholas Hoult will play Gilderoy Lockhart, a professor and celebrity wizard, in HBO Max’s Harry Potter reboot
- The series features a star-studded cast including John Lithgow as Dumbledore and Janet McTeer as McGonagall
- The Harry Potter TV series will premiere on Dec. 25
Nicholas Hoult is joining the cast of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.
Hoult, 36, will play Gilderoy Lockhart, HBO Max confirmed in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
The character has a central role in J.K. Rowling’s second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Kenneth Branagh played the part in the original film adaptation of the novel, which hit theaters in 2002.
In the book, Lockhart joins the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He is a charming celebrity in the wizarding world, despite his own shortcomings that occasionally make him less qualified than he tries to appear.
Hoult joins the growing star-studded cast of the Harry Potter reboot series at HBO Max. The cast includes John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor Minerva McGonagall and Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy. Arabella Stanton, Alastair Stout and Dominic McLaughlin star as Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, respectively.
The project began production in July 2025.
A year after the reboot was announced in 2023, Daniel Radcliffe, who played the titular role in the films, said that while he wouldn’t be participating in the series, he looked forward to seeing the new direction the story would take with a new cast.
“Like the rest of the world, [I’m] very excited to watch as an audience member,” Radcliffe told E! News in May 2024. “I don’t know if it would work to have us do anything in it.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In June 2024, HBO announced that the new series would be written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner, whose past credits include Succession, Killing Eve and His Dark Materials.
Mark Mylod also serves as an executive producer, and directed several episodes of the series in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. Mylod is best known for directing numerous episodes of Succession, which earned him two Emmy Awards, in addition to helming 2022’s The Menu.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty
In recent years, Rowling has sparked controversy for making anti-transgender comments and supporting others with transphobic views. Despite this, Rowling is involved in production of the upcoming series and is one of its executive producers. The author — who first came under fire in 2020 for making remarks widely condemned as transphobic — has denied being transphobic, defending her views as pro “woman.”
Hoult recently starred as Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman and will reprise the role in its sequel, Man of Tomorrow. His next movie, How to Rob a Bank, will be released on Nov. 13.
The Harry Potter TV series premieres on HBO Max on Dec. 25.
Read the full article here
