HBO is already assembling the cast for the second season of Harry Potter, months before audiences have even seen Harry’s first year at Hogwarts.
According to Deadline, the network announced Friday that Lenny Rush will portray Dobby, Billy Barratt will play a young Tom Riddle, and Bonnie Hill will take over the role of Ginny Weasley.
The trio joins Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who was recently cast as Hogwarts’ flamboyant new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart.
All four characters have significant roles in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which follows Harry as he returns to Hogwarts and investigates a series of mysterious attacks connected to the legendary Chamber.
Lenny Rush Cast as Dobby
Rush will bring one of the franchise’s most recognizable non-human characters to the small screen.
The 17-year-old British actor is best known for his BAFTA-winning performance in the BBC comedy Am I Being Unreasonable? and has also appeared in Doctor Who, Enola Holmes 2, and Dodger.
Lenny Rush in Am I Being Unreasonable?, – BBC, YouTube
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Dobby first appears in Chamber of Secrets when he unexpectedly arrives at the Dursleys’ home and desperately attempts to prevent Harry from returning to Hogwarts. His increasingly destructive efforts to “protect” Harry provide some of the book’s funniest moments before the house-elf becomes an important ally throughout the series.
Toby Jones previously voiced the character in the Warner Bros. films. HBO has not revealed how Rush’s performance will be translated to the screen or whether the production will utilize performance capture alongside his voice.
Billy Barratt Becomes Young Voldemort
Barratt will portray Tom Riddle, the seemingly charming Hogwarts student whom Harry encounters through a mysterious diary.
The 18-year-old already has an impressive résumé. At just 13, Barratt became the youngest person to win an International Emmy for Best Performance by an Actor for the BBC television film Responsible Child. His other credits include Invasion, Kraven the Hunter, and the horror film Bring Her Back.
Billy Barratt in Bring Her Back – A24, YouTube
Book readers, of course, know that Riddle eventually becomes Lord Voldemort. Christian Coulson previously portrayed the teenage version of the Dark Lord in the 2002 Chamber of Secrets film.
Bonnie Hill Replaces Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley
Meanwhile, Hill will inherit the role of Ginny Weasley from Gracie Cochrane, marking a significant cast change heading into the show’s second season.
Cochrane filmed Ginny’s relatively limited appearances in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In May, her family announced that she would leave the series after the first season due to “unforeseen circumstances.” HBO publicly supported the decision and thanked the young actress for her work.
Bonnie Hill in Girl Troop vs Aliens – CBBC, YouTube
Hill has appeared in The Six Triple Eight, Film Club, and Girl Troop versus Aliens, where she coincidentally played a character named Ginny. In another amusing coincidence, she becomes the second actress named Bonnie to portray the youngest Weasley, following Bonnie Wright, who played the character throughout the original films.
The recasting comes just as Ginny becomes considerably more important to the story. She begins her first year at Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets and soon finds herself directly connected to the mystery threatening the school.
Taken as a whole, the new casting announcements suggest that Warner Bros. is moving quickly. To keep pace with its rapidly aging child actors, the ambitious series will need to maintain a brisk production schedule, ensuring that the cast develops alongside their characters.
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