Man, after I got all excited about Nicholas Hoult as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter last week, HBO pulls the rug from under my feet with a recasting announcement. Hoult will no longer play Lockhart. Instead, Kit Harington of Game of Thrones fame will be replacing him.
There’s no drama over this decision. According to a report from Deadline, Hoult left the project due to scheduling issues. Hoult was already involved in two other projects, and when HBO tried to work around this to film the Lockhart scenes within the Season 2 schedule, they discovered this was no longer feasible. After Hoult was released from his deal, HBO reached out to Kit Harington for the role, who accepted readily and excitedly.
It’s worth pointing out that Harington is no stranger to Harry Potter, having voiced Lockhart himself in the latest audiobook releases. I didn’t expect Harington to fit the role so well, but to my surprise, he did, alongside an exceptional voice cast for the rest of the audiobook series. Notably, he’d stated during an interview regarding the audiobook release that he felt there was a bit of Lockhart in him, as he allegedly used his celebrity status in Game of Thrones to try to get into a club once. And honestly, I love that for him.
Once again, Gilderoy Lockhart was originally played to perfection by Kenneth Branagh in the original movies. He takes on quite a big role in Chamber of Secrets as a vain, self-obsessed Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. While I definitely would’ve loved to see Hoult’s take on the character, I can’t deny that I’m excited to watch Harington lean into a role that’s so far removed from Jon Snow. You know nothing, Lockhart. And that’s actually true this time!
HBO’s Harry Potter is set to premiere on Christmas Day.
