A few weeks ago, the trade papers announced a surprising casting decision: Nicholas Hoult had signed on to play a major role in the HBO Harry Potter series. The series is basically just a reboot of the films and the books, and the series is absolutely executive produced by JK Rowling. Fair enough – Rowling created the franchise, she’s A-OK with this reboot, and it is what it is. What’s bizarre is how many good actors are involved with the series and with Rowling’s horrifically transphobic ass. Rowling’s politics are radioactive for everyone but the dregs of the arch-conservative political media. Even the actors who knew and liked Rowling before she turned into this lunatic villain cannot justify her politics. Why would any actor want to get in bed with her at this point? Well, Nick Hoult had two weeks of listening to people say variations of all of that ^^ and decided to head out. Hoult has stepped back and Kit Harington is replacing him.
Kit Harington is joining the Harry Potter universe. The Game of Thrones alum, 39, has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in season 2 of HBO’s Harry Potter series. Nicholas Hoult, who was announced in the role on Aug. 11, has dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.
Harry Potter’s official Instagram account shared a statement after the casting change on Monday, Aug. 24. “Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule,” the statement read on its Instagram Stories. “Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart.”
Hoult, 36, is currently set to reprise his Superman role of Lex Luthor in the upcoming sequel Man of Tomorrow, which is scheduled for release in July 2027. HBO Max previously confirmed his Potter casting in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Per Deadline, Harington was “excited” to take over the role. Harington previously voiced the character in Audible’s Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions in 2025.
Lockhart is a main player in J.K. Rowling’s second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In the 2002 film version, Kenneth Branagh played the character.
“Scheduling conflicts”… after two weeks? LOL. It wasn’t a scheduling conflict, it was a “wow, didn’t think I would be called out so thoroughly for this one” conflict. And that’s the whole point of these pile-ons, right? To get actors to actually think about who they’re hurting and what message they’re sending. Hoult changed his mind in a fortnight, probably less. Good for him. As for Kit Harington… his career is so strange post-GoT, but I thought his role in Industry gave him a boost. I would imagine this HP role is more about how much he loves working for HBO than anything else. But yeah, give Kit some backlash too. He doesn’t need the money and he could easily find another job. Booooo.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM Actor Nicholas Hoult made a fashion-forward appearance in London as he stepped out in a sophisticated brown ensemble by Prada, effortlessly blending classic tailoring with modern edge. Adding a touch of understated luxury, he paired the look with a sleek black holdall from Bottega Veneta. The Superman star is currently in town promoting the highly anticipated release, in which he takes on the iconic role of Lex Luthor. Pictured: Nicholas Hoult BACKGRID USA 2 JULY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Mattpapz / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Nicholas Hoult at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party (98th Annual Academy Awards) Hosted By Mark Guiducci held at the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) at 5905 Wilshire Blvd on March 15, 2026 in Museum Row, Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1083468704, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Pictured: Nicholas Hoult , Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- Nicholas Hoult at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party (98th Annual Academy Awards) Hosted By Mark Guiducci held at the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) at 5905 Wilshire Blvd on March 15, 2026 in Museum Row, Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1083468755, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Pictured: Nicholas Hoult , Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- Hollywood, CA Nicholas Hoult visits “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to promote “Superman.” Pictured: Nicholas Hoult BACKGRID USA 25 JUNE 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: PGP / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM Actor Nicholas Hoult made a fashion-forward appearance in London as he stepped out in a sophisticated brown ensemble by Prada, effortlessly blending classic tailoring with modern edge. Adding a touch of understated luxury, he paired the look with a sleek black holdall from Bottega Veneta. The Superman star is currently in town promoting the highly anticipated release, in which he takes on the iconic role of Lex Luthor. Pictured: Nicholas Hoult BACKGRID USA 2 JULY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Mattpapz / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM Kit Harington and Ciaran Owens attended the opening night of the Manchester Film Festival at Aviva Studios for Kit’s film premiere, joining the event to mark the occasion. Pictured: Kit Harrington BACKGRID USA 19 MARCH 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: FARRELL / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY 2026 Disney Upfront Pictured: Kit Harington BACKGRID USA 12 MAY 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY Guests were seen attending the Disney 2026 Upfront red carpet at the North Javits Center in New York City. Pictured: Kit Harington BACKGRID USA 12 MAY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: RULA KANAWATI / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM Kit Harington and Ciaran Owens attended the opening night of the Manchester Film Festival at Aviva Studios for Kit’s film premiere, joining the event to mark the occasion. Pictured: Kit Harrington BACKGRID USA 19 MARCH 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: FARRELL / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Nicholas looked at his career trajectory and said..”HELL NAW” to the 😱 baggage that comes with 🤬🤬🤬 J.K., Harrington doesn’t have THAT luxury cause ain’t NOBODY checking for him…unfortunately
Kit Harington is a mess, his wife is a tory
How do you know she’s a Tory? Bummer.
Kit is a recovering alcoholic with a wife and two young children, and isn’t fully pushing the Go Button on his career atm as is his right. Since this role is a “one and done,” he probably was thinking “Why not? And it’s my HBO fam”, as Kaiser said. Plus he gets the humor of Lockhart, not that I’ll be watching it…
Hoult could have gotten a much bigger career boost from it but good for him for stepping back (whether it was principled or not). I think of Hoult as similar to Robert Pattinson and hope that he makes similar interesting choices in the future as he’s a very good actor!
Wouldn’t it be nice if some of this soul searching happened *before* taking a role with someone like JKR? Sigh.
Hoult may have thought that his good guy reputation was strong enough to counteract or rise above the toxic transphobic fumes, but clearly he was getting some strong backlash
(by which I mean, of course, “scheduling conflicts”). Maybe his example will be a warning for others not to tread this path in the first place.
Oh, and if you are sad not to see Hoult play a self-centred handsome doofus, I invite you to watch his work in “The Great”. It is bonkers in the best way!
Hoult in The Great is bonkers and beyond!
To be absolutely trite but Nic Hoult is such a handsome man – he really looks better as a blond.
For Kit Harrington he might have married into money but his career has stalled.
He wants to be more than GoT and I can’t blame him for that.
I think the blonde elevates him because *so few* men could pull off such an icy blonde crop cut so it really emphasises how beautiful his face is.
True. The only thing I think about when I hear Kit Harrington is “You know nothing Jon Snow”
I didn’t get why Hoult was being this dumb about his career and yeah, Kit Harrington, that tracks. Bah. Rowling’s latest I really do stand for trans adults comments were seriously because I bet HBO forced her to. They are about to lose some money over this whole deal with tons of people boycotting. And I hope they do.
Hmmmm, not sure I give any credit to him for withdrawing due to being called out, especially while hiding behind scheduling conflicts. Or I mean the new Superman could be running long, need reshoots, etc.It could literally be the scheduling could not be worked out, it happens. So, still not thinking much of anyone involved really.
I’ll give it. If we don’t give credit to people for listing to feedback and doing the right thing the second time vs the first then people will just say “F*&K it” and keep doing the bad thing. Normally Hoult is fine to good so its not hard to give him a cookie for backing down.
It isn’t “just” (which is by far enough to cancel her) that JK is a transphobic nutjob who uses her HP wealth to fund anti-trans legislation and spread trans hatred and misinformation. She treated the actors from the original series like they were her property and was personally offended that they spoke out against her trans hate. She intentionally stokes the dangerous fringe nuts like herself against anyone who spoke out against her. Who wants to work on a project where the deranged writer is such a fruitcake egomaniac that 20 years after you work with her she could be directing online hatred against you and causing you security nightmares because you disagree with whatever hatred campaign she is choosing to lead in the future?
It isn’t “just” (which is by far enough to cancel her) that JK is a transphobic nutjob who uses her HP wealth to fund anti-trans legislation and spread trans hatred and misinformation. She treated the actors from the original series like they were her property and was personally offended that they spoke out against her trans hate. She intentionally stokes the dangerous fringe nuts like herself against anyone who speaks out against her. Who wants to work on a project where the deranged writer is such a fruitcake egomaniac that 20 years after you work with her she could be directing online vitriol against you and causing you security nightmares because you disagree with whatever hatred campaign she is choosing to lead in the future?
I felt a lot of sympathy for Kit after GoT, because he went through a very rough patch personally and to some degree professionally. It was hard on Amelia Clarke too, in part because of what a clusterf**k the finale was. So, to some degree I blame Beniof and Wise (and GRRM) for that. But they didn’t make him take this part, so that’s on him.
For Harrington, I thinks being part of an ensemble is healthier for him and help his recovery or support his sobriety.
Plus he’d probably like to create something his kids can watch – and future grandchildren.
Location may play a part – perhaps convenient for the whole family and kids school and maybe his wife’s work- in UK or elsewhere.
It’s maybe a whole year of stability
If we don’t want to support JKR, we don’t need to watch.
If Kit doesn’t take the job, someone else will. It would do nothing to turn it down; however, we can choose to watch any of these actors’ work in the future. That includes McGonagal amd Snape and everyone else.
I don’t watch people who appeared in Woody Allen movies or anyone who signed the letter to allow Roman Polanski to “safely” return to the U.S. That includes Spielberg, Emma Thompson, Natalie Portman. And Emma and Natalie later tried to backtrack which I despise even more
And I don’t watch Jake or Maggie Gyllenhall
Harrington had already voiced the character for the audiobook so it was clear he had no problem with JK. Hoult having a schedule conflict is convenient. He didn’t say he left bc of JK being a transphobic bigot who uses her profits to hurt marginalized people so I’m not going to assume that’s why he left.
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Kit is so good as Lockhart in the audiobooks. Im so excited to see his portrayal in the series! Curious what they’ll do to his hair/appearance