Harry Potter Cast Adds 5 Hogwarts Haunts, Including the Sorting Hat, Ahead of Dec. 25 Premiere

HBO has used Halloween eve to fill in some of the spookiest gaps in the Harry Potter cast, naming the actors who will voice the Sorting Hat and play the ghosts and portrait that haunt Hogwarts. The announcement came on Oct. 30, less than two months before the series debuts on HBO and HBO Max on Dec. 25.

David Threlfall, the BAFTA-winning actor best known as Frank Gallagher in the original UK version of “Shameless,” will voice the Sorting Hat. Leo Bill takes on Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost. Andrew Brooke is the Bloody Baron of Slytherin, Daniel Fearn plays the Hufflepuff ghost the Fat Friar, and Laura Smyth, seen in “Baby Reindeer,” plays the Fat Lady, the portrait guarding Gryffindor’s entrance.

A Note on the Sorting Hat Casting

One outlet’s report muddied the waters. IGN’s article credits “Shameless” US star William H. Macy with the Sorting Hat voice. Polygon, Variety and Deadline all name Threlfall instead, and Deadline notes that Threlfall led the British series that inspired the American version starring Macy. The weight of reporting points to Threlfall, and the Macy credit looks like a mix-up between the two versions of the show.

Big Shoes, Familiar Names

Each new actor steps into a role with film history. John Cleese played Nearly Headless Nick in the movies, and Leslie Phillips voiced the Sorting Hat. Elizabeth Spriggs was the Fat Lady. Terence Bayler and Simon Fisher-Becker, who played the Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar in the first film, have both died.

The group joins Peter Serafinowicz, cast earlier this year as Peeves the Poltergeist. Peeves appears in the books but was cut from the films, so he is one of the clearest chances for the series to show off material the movies left behind.

What the Harry Potter Cast Looks Like Now

The Harry Potter cast is large. Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout lead as Harry, Hermione and Ron. John Lithgow is Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu is Snape and Nick Frost is Hagrid. The supporting list includes Paul Whitehouse, Johnny Flynn, Bertie Carvel, Katherine Parkinson, Warwick Davis and Anton Lesser. Recent additions include Jasper Talbot and Hannah Chinn as James and Lily Potter, and Harry Gilby as Charlie Weasley.

Season 2, adapting “Chamber of Secrets,” is already filming. Variety lists Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart, Lenny Rush as Dobby, Billy Barratt as Tom Riddle, Rafe Spall as Arthur Weasley, Molly Hewitt-Richards as Moaning Myrtle and Jasper Ambrose as Colin Creevey.

Eight Hours Instead of Two and a Half

Producer David Heyman recently spoke about the challenge of adapting each book as a TV season rather than a film. On the official Harry Potter podcast, he said the team is telling over eight hours a story the first film covered in two and a half, and that episodes need act breaks and often end on a question rather than an answer. “Finding that structure is just different,” he said. “But boy, is it exciting.”

Francesca Gardiner writes and executive produces the first season, and Mark Mylod executive produces and directs multiple episodes. J.K. Rowling is among the executive producers. With a trailer released last month and the casting nearly complete, the remaining question is whether this version can win over viewers who know the films well.

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