Harry Potter on HBO: Who Is in the Series Cast?
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From Dominic McLaughlin to John Lithgow, see who plays Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Hogwarts teachers in HBO's Harry Potter series, premiering December 25.
Who is who in HBO's new Harry Potter series? The question has dominated searches since the production released the first images of the main trio, and the answer is settled: Dominic McLaughlin is Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton plays Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout is Ron Weasley. The main cast is completed by John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall), Paapa Essiedu (Severus Snape) and Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid).
Season 1 adapts Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone across eight episodes and premieres on December 25, 2026, on HBO and HBO Max. The show has already been renewed for a second season based on Chamber of Secrets and is Warner Bros. Discovery's biggest bet for the coming years. Below is the complete cast guide: who each actor is, which character they play and what is known about their part.
The main trio: Harry, Ron and Hermione
The three most disputed roles of the decade went to actors who are practically unknown to the general public. The choice was announced in May 2025, after a process that heard tens of thousands of children from the UK and Ireland.
Dominic McLaughlin is Harry Potter. Before the series, the young actor appeared in the Sky comedy Grow alongside Nick Frost — who, coincidentally, plays his Hagrid here. He was approved in a Glasgow audition where he performed a poem he had written about an ordinary weekend.
Arabella Stanton plays Hermione Granger. She has stage credentials: she was Matilda in the West End musical Matilda and also voiced a younger Hermione in the audiobook editions of the first three books. Her audition took place in London.
Alastair Stout plays Ron Weasley and is the only one of the three with no previous acting credits. He auditioned in Manchester. In the first official posters, the redhead drew attention for his resemblance to Rupert Grint, the Ron of the films.
| Character | Actor | In the films |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Potter | Dominic McLaughlin | Daniel Radcliffe |
| Hermione Granger | Arabella Stanton | Emma Watson |
| Ron Weasley | Alastair Stout | Rupert Grint |
The Hogwarts professors
The faculty concentrates the most experienced names in the cast. John Lithgow, a four-time Emmy nominee, took on Albus Dumbledore in February 2025 and is the production's best-known face. Janet McTeer, a Tony winner and Oscar nominee, is Minerva McGonagall; Paapa Essiedu, Emmy-nominated for I May Destroy You, plays Severus Snape; and Nick Frost brings Rubeus Hagrid to life.
Other key teachers are confirmed. Luke Thallon is Quirinus Quirrell, the nervous Defence Against the Dark Arts professor of the first year. Warwick Davis, the only actor from the film franchise to return, is back as Filius Flitwick — he appeared in all eight original movies. Sirine Saba plays Pomona Sprout, Richard Durden is the ghost professor Cuthbert Binns (a character who never made it into the films) and Bríd Brennan is Madam Pomfrey.
The Dursleys and the adults outside Hogwarts
On the Muggle side, Bel Powley is Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby plays Vernon Dursley and Amos Kitson is Dudley, Harry's spoiled cousin. It is the first time these three roles go to actors with this career profile: Powley comes from series such as The Morning Show, and Rigby has credits in Tom Jones and Renegade Nell.
In the wizarding world, Paul Whitehouse is caretaker Argus Filch, Anton Lesser plays wandmaker Ollivander and Bertie Carvel appears as Cornelius Fudge. Johnny Flynn is Lucius Malfoy, Katherine Parkinson plays Molly Weasley and Leigh Gill takes on the goblin Griphook, a role Warwick Davis played in the films. Peter Serafinowicz was cast as Peeves, the poltergeist left out of the original features.
Also in the lineup are Louise Brealey (Madam Hooch), Naomi Wirthner (Madam Malkin), Lambert Wilson (Nicolas Flamel) and Marthe Keller (Perenelle Flamel). The presence of the Flamels foreshadows the Philosopher's Stone arc that the movies resolved in just a few scenes.
The students: housemates and rivals
The Gryffindor common room has taken shape. Rory Wilmot is Neville Longbottom, Leo Earley plays Seamus Finnigan, Elijah Oshin is Dean Thomas, Alessia Leoni is Parvati Patil and Sienna Moosah plays Lavender Brown.
In Slytherin, Lox Pratt is Draco Malfoy, Finn Stephens plays Vincent Crabbe and William Nash is Gregory Goyle. The Weasley family, meanwhile, shows up in force: Tristan Harland and Gabriel Harland are Fred and George, Ruari Spooner is Percy and Gracie Cochrane plays Ginny in Season 1 — from Season 2 on, the role goes to Bonnie Hill.
The cast also includes smaller but relevant names for book readers: Laila Barwick (Pansy Parkinson), India Moon (Hannah Abbott), Cian Eagle-Service (Ernie Macmillan), Jazmyn Lewin (Susan Bones), Anjula Murali (Padma Patil), Aaron Zhao (Terry Boot), Scarlett Archer (Penelope Clearwater) and Eve Walls (Lisa Turpin). The Gryffindor Quidditch team features Orson Matthews (Oliver Wood), Asha Soetan (Angelina Johnson), Eire Farrell (Katie Bell), Serrana Su-Ling Bliss (Alicia Spinnet) and Ethan Smith (Lee Jordan).
Parents, ghosts and the Sorting Hat
The characters who carry Harry's past have been confirmed since October. Jasper Talbot is James Potter and Hannah Chinn is Lily Potter, the parents murdered by Voldemort. Harry Gilby plays Charlie Weasley, Ron's older brother who works with dragons in Romania and had never appeared in an audiovisual production of the franchise.
The Hogwarts ghosts are also cast: Leo Bill is Nearly Headless Nick, Andrew Brooke is the Bloody Baron, Daniel Fearn is the Fat Friar and Laura Smyth gives life to the Fat Lady. The Sorting Hat is voiced by David Threlfall, and Mickey McAnulty appears as Piers Polkiss, Dudley's friend.
How the trio was chosen
The production spared no effort. The open casting call, launched in September 2024, sought children aged 9 to 11 living in the UK and Ireland, with no restriction on ethnicity, disability or gender identity. In-person auditions went through Manchester, Scotland, Ireland and Cardiff.
The numbers vary by source: Variety reports more than 32,000 children heard; later promotional material mentioned 40,000 candidates. What is certain is that casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann watched hundreds of tapes a day for months.
“He's skeptical of the adult world. He's got a vulnerability and a melancholy and a solitary quality to him.”
About Stout, Bevan was blunt: the boy won her over by being “charming and funny from the word go”. Stanton took the part by performing William Ernest Henley's Invictus and then a comic scene in the same audition.
Controversy, expectations and what changes from the films
The casting of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape triggered a wave of racist attacks online. In March 2026, the actor revealed he had received death threats. Showrunner Francesca Gardiner came to his defence in November.
“It's appalling that anyone should be subjected to that kind of abuse in any circumstances.”
Creatively, the promise is fidelity to the books with room for what cinema cut. Actor Lox Pratt, the series' Draco, told Entertainment Weekly that the production shows the character at home, something the features never did. The logic is the same one behind the one-season-per-book idea: with eight hours of screen time, there is room for subplots that the two-hour format sacrificed.
HBO Max Brasil published the individual posters of the trio with their wands raised, under the tagline “The First Year Begins”.
When it premieres and what comes next
Season 1 has eight episodes and arrives on December 25, 2026, airing on HBO and streaming globally on HBO Max. Filming began in July 2025 at Leavesden Studios outside London — the same complex where the film franchise was shot.
Mark Mylod leads the directing team, sharing episodes with Jessica Hobbs, Lucy Forbes and Benjamin Caron. The score is by Hans Zimmer. In May 2026, before the premiere, HBO renewed the show for a second season, which will adapt Chamber of Secrets and has already confirmed Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart, Rafe Spall as Arthur Weasley, Lenny Rush as Dobby and Billy Barratt as Tom Riddle.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Main trio announced | May 2025 |
| Filming begins at Leavesden | July 2025 |
| Season 2 renewal | May 2026 |
| Episode 1 premiere | December 25, 2026 |
For those who want to revisit what has already been announced, the site has the casting of the actors who play James, Lily and Charlie, plus earlier coverage of the premiere window and the star-studded cast. More news should arrive in the coming weeks as the Christmas rollout ramps up — follow the series page of Revista Pixel as well.
Expectations are high because the bet is long-term: the plan is to adapt all seven books across seven seasons over a decade, following the young actors as they grow. If the plan holds, the cast announced today will be the face of Harry Potter until the end of the decade.
With information from Omelete, Variety, Deadline and Warner Bros. Discovery.
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