EXCLUSIVE: HBO continues to put together the cast puzzle of its high-profile series adaptation of the hugely popular Harry Potter fantasy books. The latest major piece appears to be British actor-comedian Nick Frost, who is nearing a deal to play half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, Deadline has learned.
He would join John Lithgow, Janet McTeer and Paapa Essiedu who, as Deadline has reported exclusively, are set or in negotiations to play Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Minerva McGonagall and Professor Severus Snape, respectively.
HBO declined comment. “We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation,” the network said in a statement. “As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”
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While HBO has remained tightlipped, chatter about Frost’s potential casting as Hagrid started percolating online last week, including on Reddit, as fans have been zeroing on a cryptic March 20 Instagram post by Frost, “It’s happening, it’s actually happening,” as a possible clue, along with eagle-eyed fans noticing that Frost has now followed such Harry Potter series cast members as Lithgow and Essiedu.
Hagrid is wizarding school Hogwarts’ warm and friendly gamekeeper and groundskeeper who eventually becomes the Care of Magical Creatures professor. The character was portrayed by Robbie Coltrane in all eight Harry Potter films.
The Harry Potter series, designed to run over a decade, comes from writer-showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director/executive producer Mark Mylod. Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, at the time of the original announcement called the show a “faithful adaptation” of J.K. Rowling’s novels that will “dive deep into each of the iconic books.”
Frost is known for his frequent collaborations with Simon Pegg, including movies Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul and The World’s End and the Prime Video supernatural comedy series Truth Seekers. He also was part of the main cast of the AMC action drama series Into the Badlands. Frost next will be seen in the How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake set for release in June.
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