The wizarding world was just not ready for it
Starring in the new Harry Potter series is dream for so many aspiring actors and an open casting call for the three main characters proved too good of an opportunity to miss for many young fans… and some not so young ones too.
When HBO announced an open casting call for the roles of Hermione, Ron, and Harry in September 2024, over 30,000 audition tapes were sent in response.
Among them was reportedly an audition tape from a 42-year-old man aiming to bag the lucrative role of Hermione Granger, played in films by Emma Watson.
Typically, the age range for the lead roles has been between 9 and 11 years old.
Unsurprisingly, the unnamed man fell at the first hurdle.
Final calls are yet to be made about roles, according to the show’s ghostwriter Francesca Gardiner.
Describing the challenge of casting as ‘daunting’, Gardiner said that the production team are aiming to closely follow the correct chronicled ages of characters from JK Rowlings original novels.
Filming is set to begin on the new adaption in the summer of 2025 at the Warner Bros Studios near Watford, Hertfordshire, with each novel to be transformed into its own series as part of a ten-year plan.
The series has been tipped to have a star studded cast with John Lithgow, Sir Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy all rumoured to be in the running for a role in the remake.
The original films, which were produced over a decade-long period between 2001 and 2011, boasted a who’s who of British acting royalty from Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon to Robbie Coltrane and Miriam Margolyes.
However, as revealed by the MailOnline earlier this year, JK Rowling is set to have the final say on all the major casting decisions.
