Kit Harington joins ‘Harry Potter’ Season 2 as Gilderoy Lockhart

WASHINGTON: Kit Harington is set to join HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ series in Season 2 as Gilderoy Lockhart, replacing Nicholas Hoult in the role, HBO Max has confirmed on its official social media handle.

The recasting comes after scheduling conflicts made it impossible for Hoult to continue with the production, as per Deadline.

In an Instagram post, HBO Max wrote, “Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to scheduling: Kit Harington will now be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart”.

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Hoult, who was originally cast as Lockhart, had two pre-existing projects that HBO had to work around. When filming Lockhart’s scenes shifted within the Season 2 production schedule, accommodating those commitments was no longer feasible, leading to the Superman actor’s departure from the role.

Harington was subsequently approached by HBO. Available to take on the part, the actor also had a connection to the character; he previously voiced Gilderoy Lockhart in ‘Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions’, which were released late last year.

In a featurette released by Audible around the audio editions, Harington spoke about his long-standing affection for JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The actor recalled that he was the same age as Harry when the first novel was published.

“I read it, and like so many generations, I was entranced, and then I was a huge fan all through my teenage years,” he said. Lockhart is a major character in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book in Rowling’s series.

The character was played by Kenneth Branagh in the second Harry Potter film. A vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard, Lockhart is known for his expertise in Memory Charms and is recruited by Albus Dumbledore as Hogwarts’ Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

Season 2 of Harry Potter was greenlit in May and is scheduled to begin filming this fall. The production is moving ahead before the Christmas premiere of Season 1, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

The series will air on HBO and stream exclusively on HBO Max. Dominic McLaughlin stars as Harry Potter, with Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger.

Returning cast members include Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall. The series is written and executive produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner, with Mark Mylod serving as executive producer and directing multiple episodes.

Jon Brown, who wrote for Season 1, has been elevated to co-showrunner for Season 2 alongside Gardiner. For Harington, the role marks his third series for HBO. He previously played Jon Snow across all eight seasons of Game of Thrones and currently stars as a series regular on HBO’s Industry. (ANI)