Kit Harington is replacing Nicholas Hoult as Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of the upcoming Harry Potter TV series. The announcement was made on the Harry Potter Instagram page on Monday, citing "a slight change due to schedule".
Cast change announced
Earlier this month, it was announced that X-Men actor Hoult, 36, would star as the Hogwarts professor in the HBO adaptation of the children's fantasy novels by JK Rowling. The new post featured a picture of the 39-year-old British actor with the caption: "Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule. Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart."
Hoult was announced as the original casting of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in an HBO Max post on Instagram on August 12. The news came shortly after it was announced that the role of Ginny Weasley would be recast for the show's second series because of "unforeseen circumstances", and actress Gracie Cochrane was leaving the series.
Series details and cast
The show aims to be a faithful adaptation of Rowling's novels, while providing a wider insight into the magical wizarding world beyond that depicted in the hit film franchise, which ran from 2001 to 2011. The three main characters are young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played by Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton.
The cast includes Paapa Essiedu as Professor Severus Snape and US actor John Lithgow as the wise and powerful headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore. Bel Powley plays Petunia Dursley in the series, and said she "strongly disagrees" with Rowling's views on gender in a recent interview with the Telegraph. "I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance," she said at the time.
Rowling has denied being transphobic and previously said she respects "every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them". She has said she believes biological sex is immutable and has been critical of self-declared gender identity, calling it "quasi-religious" and "anti-science".
The first season of the HBO show will launch this Christmas, and has been adapted from Rowling's first novel, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone.
