The new Harry Potter TV series continues to take shape, with more casting announcements for the upcoming HBO series. The Crown star Bertie Carvel, who played former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the historical drama, is now set to join the Potter cast as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Additionally, Bel Powley and Daniel Rigby will take on the roles of Harry’s aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
According to a reports from Deadline and Variety respectively, the actors will be joining a stacked cast, which now includes Paapa Essiedu as Professor Snape, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, as well as the three newcomers cast as central protagonists Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger: Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton.
Deadline reported that Carvel’s role on the series will be a recurring one, which is in-line with Fudge’s appearances in the film franchise. Robert Hardy, who played the character in the Daniel Radcliffe-led series, appeared in four consecutive installments of the films, with his first appearance being in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. For their part, the Dursleys were originally played by Fiona Shaw and the late Richard Griffiths. Their son, Dudley — who was originally played by Harry Melling — has not yet been cast in the upcoming adaptation.
That said, HBO did, in fact, decline to confirm or deny the report of Carvel’s casting. “We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation,” an HBO rep told the outlet in response to the tip. “As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”
However, the trades have been pretty spot on with their reports about casting for the series so far, so it wouldn’t surprise us if these two also come to fruition as well.
The network is said to be adapting one book per season, with a seven season arc planned as they look toward what they hope is a 2026 debut for the show.
The HBO Original Harry Potter television series has cast the following roles:
- Molly Weasley – Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley
- Malfoy family members – Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy and Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy
- Hogwarts students – Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, and Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown
- Dursley parents – Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley and Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley
- Cornelius Fudge – Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge
Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
