RSCThe first six members of the Harry Potter TV series have been cast, and while five are well-known actors, the sixth is relative unknown Luke Thallon.
The long-gestating Harry Potter series is set to start shooting in the UK this summer, with each season focusing on a different school year in the life of the boy wizard.
HBO has announced six cast members, with John Lithgow playing Dumbledore, Janet McTeer playing Professor McGonagall, Nick Frost stepping into the sizeable shoes of Hagrid, Paapa Essiedu playing Severus Snape, and Paul Whitehouse playing Argus Filch.
The sixth cast member is an actor making his TV debut in the Harry Potter show, so here’s everything we know about the soon-to-be-very-famous Luke Thallon.
Luke Thallon will play Professor Quirinus Quirrel in Harry Potter
Warner Bros.Luke Thallon has been cast as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Quirinus Quirrel in the Harry Potter TV series, taking over from David Thewlis, who played the character in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Unless you’re a regular visitor to London’s West End, you probably won’t know Thallon’s work. He played the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part of ‘Abigail’s soldier’ in The Favorite onscreen, but aside from that, Thallon has made his living on stage, in some of the most acclaimed productions of the last few years.
Thallon studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and in his final year, starred in Mike Bartlett’s 2017 production of Albion at the Almeida Theatre, for which he was nominated for the Evening Standard Emerging Talent award.
He received even more acclaim in the twin roles of Fritz and Leo in Patrick Marber’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, for which he won the Clarence Derwent award.
More recently, Thallon received universally positive reviews for his performance as former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in Peter Morgan’s Patriots.
RSCHe’s currently doing the big one, however, with Fallon following in the footsteps of David Tennant, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, and future Harry Potter co-star Paapa Essiedu by playing Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
However, in spite of all the stage work, Thallon has also recently been talking about making the move into TV or film, saying to Deadline: “I would love to do something on screen. I really would. There’s no pretending that I turn lots of things down, but I’m just waiting for the reason to go to screen to be as exciting and as fulfilling as the things I get to do on stage now.”
Quirinus Quirrel should provide him with a role that’s both exciting and fulfilling, as while we won’t spoil the character’s story here, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has a fascinating arc in first book/season of the story.
We’ll bring you more news on Harry Potter casting as-and-when it breaks, but for now, here’s why we think Paapa Essiedu is perfect for Severus Snape, as well as what we know about a potential Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie.
