Nicholas Hoult is heading to Hogwarts. The actor, known for his roles in Superman and The Great, has been cast as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in season two of HBO's Harry Potter series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lockhart arrives at Hogwarts in Harry's second year as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He is a celebrated figure in the wizarding world, known for a string of heroic deeds — though he is later exposed as a fraud who stole credit from other wizards after erasing their memories. Kenneth Branagh played the character in the 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Season two will adapt that same source material, the second book in J.K. Rowling's series. HBO granted the show an early season two renewal back in May, before season one has even aired.
Season one, officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, premieres December 25. The core cast includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. Supporting them are John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy.
Francesca Gardiner serves as showrunner for season one and executive produces alongside director Mark Mylod, who also worked with Gardiner on Succession. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV are also among the executive producers, as is David Heyman of Heyday Films, who produced all eight of the original Harry Potter films. For season two, Jon Brown, also a Succession veteran, joins Gardiner as co-showrunner.
Gardiner won the showrunner role after a competitive search, according to Deadline. She beat out Tom Moran and Kathleen Jordan for the job four months after Deadline first reported she was among three finalists.
The project was announced by Warner Bros. Discovery at a Max streaming event in April 2023. Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, called it "a faithful adaptation" and said it would run for "10 consecutive years." The series was later moved to HBO as part of a rethink of WBD's big-budget streaming strategy. Fantastic Beasts will not be part of the new series, WBD confirmed at the time of the original announcement.
One casting change has already occurred before season one has aired. Gracie Cochrane, who was set to play Ginny Weasley, has departed the series due to what producers described as unforeseen circumstances. The role will be recast for season two.
Hoult first broke through in the 2002 film About a Boy, opposite Hugh Grant. His credits since include Nosferatu, The Menu, and four X-Men films beginning with 2011's First Class. He is next set to appear in Amazon MGM's How to Rob a Bank and the Disney+/Hulu series Mosquito, created by Tony McNamara, who also created The Great.
