NEW YORK - Potterheads are one step closer to seeing a television series about boy wizard Harry Potter come to life, two years after it was announced.

HBO said on April 14 that it had cast American actor John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, English actress Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, British actor Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and English actor Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.

Casting for major roles including Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley has not been announced, and the series – based on the bestselling books by British author J.K. Rowling – does not have an official title or air date.

HBO also said English actor Luke Thallon and Welsh actor Paul Whitehouse were joining the cast as Quirinus Quirrell and Argus Filch.

“We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life,” Francesca Gardiner, showrunner of the series, and Mark Mylod, who will direct several episodes, said in a joint statement. They are both also executive producers of the show.

Lithgow, 79, starred in American television series 3rd Rock From The Sun (1996 to 2001) and won Emmys for his roles in Dexter (2006 to 2013) and The Crown (2016 to 2023). He has also won two Tony Awards and has had an extensive movie career; he played one of the cardinals contending for the papacy in the Oscar-nominated film Conclave (2024).

Lithgow told entertainment website ScreenRant in February that he had signed on to play Dumbledore, a role played in the original Harry Potter films (2001 to 2011) by Irish actor Richard Harris, who died at age 72 in 2002, and Irish-English actor Michael Gambon, who died at age 82 in 2023.

“It was not an easy decision because it’s going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I’m afraid,” Lithgow said then. “But I’m very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That’s why it’s been such a hard decision. I’ll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I’ve said yes.”

English actor Jude Law played a younger Dumbledore in the spinoff films, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore (2022)

The new show will air on HBO and stream on Max. HBO said in 2023 that the series would be a “faithful adaptation” of the seven books published between 1997 and 2007.

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