Nicholas Hoult Joins HBO's Harry Potter TV Series In An Unexpected Role
HBO's "Harry Potter" series has ensnared another actor.
Nicholas Hoult, who broke out with his performance in "About A Boy" and went on to star in films like "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Warm Bodies," "The Favourite," and several "X-Men" movies (among many other films and TV shows), has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the upcoming second season of the HBO TV adaptation, according to Deadline.
In the "Harry Potter" novels, Lockhart is hired as Hogwarts' Professor of Dark Arts in Harry, Hermione, and Ron's second year. He's a handsome guy, but he's ultimately a preening blowhard who has lied about all the famous wizarding exploits that he wrote about in his autobiography, which he assigns to the students in his class. Hermione is impressed by his seeming intelligence and accomplishments, and most of the women Lockhart encounters swoon for him, including Ron's mother, Molly Weasley. Over the course of the story, however, we learn that he's a genuine villain because he's used a spell to cause the people who actually defeated dark monsters and committed heroic acts to forget what they've done.
Nicholas Hoult seems like a very different type of actor from Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh famously played Gilderoy Lockhart in the second movie in the franchise, 2002's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Branagh brought a charming scamp quality to the role that seemed to jibe well with the actor's actual persona in that era, and it gave him an opportunity to make fun of that off-screen persona a bit courtesy of the character's self-absorption.
Nicholas Hoult doesn't have the same reputation, so while he'll likely be able to play a charming buffoon with ease, this bit of casting doesn't seem like it'll have quite the same spark. And as usual, it's disappointing to see Hoult — whose career is far from hurting, given his ongoing appearance as Lex Luthor in the new DC Universe — take a role in this show, given "Potter" creator J.K. Rowling's well-documented history of anti-transgender rhetoric. I would have preferred to see Hoult join the list of actors who turned down a role in "Harry Potter" over the years. Alas.
The first season of HBO's "Harry Potter" premieres later this year. Season 2 is slated to begin production this fall.