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‘Harry Potter’ Fans React To Female Lord Voldemort Casting

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Posted on by Daniel Roberts 1 Comment
Split image: Left, Cynthia Erivo in 'Wicked', Right - Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort

Credit: Inside the Magic

Filming on HBO’s Harry Potter TV series is well underway. From dozens of casting announcements to countless set photos, the newly imagined wizarding world is finally coming to life. Said to be a more “faithful adaptation” of the books by J.K. Rowling than the eight films, the reboot will span seven seasons (one per book) across a 10-year period.

The extensive cast so far includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter. Several others have also been announced, but there’s one actor who’s yet to be named: Tom Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort.

But a casting rumor has rocked the Harry Potter fanbase to its core. Apparently, Warner Bros. and HBO are auditioning men and women for the role of the dark wizard, who was played in the films by actor Ralph Fiennes.

Voldemort in his final battle against Harry in the 'Deathly Hallows'
Credit: Warner Bros.

Related: New ‘Harry Potter’ Series Finds Its Lord Voldemort

According to trusted entertainment industry scooper Daniel Richtman (via SFFGazette.com), “For the Harry Potter show, they’re auditioning both men and women for Voldemort, so it’s possible we could see a female Voldemort in the series.”

Committing to scrolling through all the reactions from fans on X (formerly Twitter) would feel like the equivalent of exploring every inch of the seemingly endless caverns beneath Gringotts, so we’ve collected a few that highlight the differing viewpoints of this casting.

Below are the reactions to a retweet of the news shared by the account @TheDailyHPotter.

According to Daniel Richtman Voldemort could be portrayed by a woman in HBO’s new Harry Potter series 

“Apparently @HBO doesn’t want anyone to watch the new Harry Potter series,” one fan writes:

Of course, they have a point — while many are likely to tune in to watch a female Lord Voldemort out of morbid curiosity, it’s unlikely fans actually want to see it happen. If these rumors are true, though, what in the wizarding world are Warner Bros. and HBO thinking?

Another fan is less sarcastic, saying “who even cares anymore”, likely referring either directly to the series for already casting a Black actor as Severus Snape, or the entertainment industry in general, which has been heavily criticized over the years years for pushing the DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) agenda in countless projects:

“Lmao…do it. Just do it…at this point, who even cares anymore”

“Still not worse than what they did to Snape,” one fan says, referring to the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Snape, who was played by the late Alan Rickman in the Harry Potter films:

“The morphing of @jk_rowling into Lord Voldemort is now complete,” an anti-Rowling Harry Potter fan writes. “Some irony, no — the trans-hating author goes from evil female to manosphere sorcerer just like that. @EmmaWatson, I got your back like Hermione has Ron’s.”

This jab is obviously in reference not only to Rowling’s widely documented views on transgenderism but also her new feud with Emma Watson, who recently spoke out about the author in an interview:

While the majority of fans are in total disbelief, some are having fun with the news, using AI-generated images to fan-cast actresses they consider worthy of carrying the title, the Dark Lord. So far, names include Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black), and Cynthia Erivo (Wicked).

Erivo appears to be the most name-dropped of them all — after all, she did play the Wicked Witch of the West in last year’s Wicked (and will again in the sequel Wicked: For Good). Will she don the robes once more to play the most dangerous dark witch of all time, AKA She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Check out the AI-generated image of Erivo as Voldemort below:

Erivo certainly has the acting chops, but the question is, it it really necessary? For now, they’re only rumors so take it all with a huge pinch of salt. Still we can all probably agree that casting a female actor as Voldemort would undoubtedly turn away many fans. This has seldom worked in the past with projects such as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), but the difference here is that, that film didn’t “gender-swap” (as dubbed) existing characters.

The Harry Potter TV series is written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (HBO’s Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve). J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films are also onboard as executive producers. Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive-produce and direct multiple episodes.

Season 1 will premiere in 2027 on HBO and HBO Max.

Would you like to see a female Lord Voldemort, or do you think the idea is riddikulus? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

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