Harry Potter fans slam 'random' McGonogall casting for new series

The Harry Potter series is receiving a reboot courtesy of HBO, and talk has turned to which actors could be taking on the roles of some of our beloved characters.

First announced back in 2023 and set to begin filming in mid-2025, HBO will be teaming up with Warner Bros. to bring us a Harry Potter remake.

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As a reimagining of both J.K. Rowling’s book series and the movie franchise which ran from 2001 to 2011, this upcoming television series will follow Harry Potter as he discovers his powers and attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

However, with filming not starting until next year, we have no idea which stars will be taking on the roles of the Golden Trio and supporting characters.

Despite this, there are rumours including a potential Hagrid casting and even Dumbledore.

Now the latest rumour surrounds the potential casting of Professor McGonogall, the Head of Gryffindor who was played by Dame Maggie Smith in the Warner Bros. film series.

The discussion kicked off recently over on r/harrypotter after Deadline shared a report on who is supposedly in line for several of the show's major roles.

Alongside Mark Strong (The King’s Man) as a possible Dumbledore and Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) as Hagrid, Rachel Weisz could bag the role of Professor McGonogall.

English-American actress Weisz is best known for her roles in 1999’s The Mummy, 2009’s The Lovely Bones and more recently, 2012’s Black Widow.

She is by no means an unknown actor but Harry Potter fans are still unsure as to if casting Weisz as McGonogall would actually work.

“I really thought they'd try to get Michelle Fairley [Game of Thrones] since she worked with HBO”, user Mercilessly_May commented.

Another user said: “Rachel Weisz, though I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen her in, is way too young to be McGonagall,” and fellow fans agreed, adding: “I suppose that is true age wise. Rachel Weisz has aged extremely well. I guess I just picture McGonagall as a stern grandmotherly type, not somebody who could be on the next cover of Vogue magazine.”

As of now, these castings are mere rumours so are worth taking with a pinch of salt but if true, it seems as though HBO will have to work to convince fans of its decision to opt for a younger-swaying cast.