HBO has officially confirmed that Emmy-winning actor Kit Harington, famous for his iconic turn as Jon Snow in *Game of Thrones*, will step into the role of celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart for the upcoming second season of its highly anticipated *Harry Potter* television adaptation. The casting comes after original actor Nicholas Hoult was forced to exit the project due to an unresolvable scheduling conflict, a change first reported by entertainment outlet Deadline and later verified by the network to the BBC.
Harington’s casting marks a third collaboration between the British actor and HBO, following his decade-long run on *Game of Thrones* and a recent role in the network’s financial drama *The Industry*. For long-time fans of the franchise, the news brings a particularly exciting twist: Harington is a self-described lifelong fan of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling books, and already has experience bringing Lockhart to life, having voiced the character in Audible’s star-studded full-cast *Harry Potter* audio edition released last year. The new role may also reunite him with frequent collaborator Mark Mylod, who directed multiple episodes of *Game of Thrones* and is attached to direct several installments of the *Harry Potter* series while also serving as an executive producer alongside Rowling herself.
Gilderoy Lockhart, the vain yet charismatic wizard who takes up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry’s second year, is a core character in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, the source material for the series’ second season. The role was originally made famous on screen by Kenneth Branagh in Warner Bros.’ 2002 *Chamber of Secrets* feature film. Hoult, the actor previously tapped for the role, is a well-known star with credits ranging from the *X-Men* franchise to *Mad Max: Fury Road* and the upcoming *Superman* reboot. He was announced as Lockhart earlier this month, but conflicting commitments with other ongoing projects clashed with a revised production timeline for the *Harry Potter* series, prompting his exit from the project. As of press time, representatives for both Harington and Hoult have not issued public statements responding to requests for comment on the casting change.
The first season of HBO’s *Harry Potter* adaptation, which adapts the opening novel *Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone*, is scheduled to premiere globally on HBO Max this Christmas. The series is being produced as a decade-long project, with producers planning individual seasons to cover each of the seven books in Rowling’s original fantasy saga — the same source material that spawned the record-breaking eight-film film franchise that ran from 2001 to 2011. The new adaptation features an all-new young cast: newcomer Dominic McLaughlin leads as the titular Boy Who Lived, with Alastair Stout playing his loyal best friend Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton taking on the role of the brilliant young witch Hermione Granger. Veteran Oscar-nominated actor John Lithgow has been cast as Hogwarts’ beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore, while comedian and actor Nick Frost will portray gentle half-giant gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid. HBO confirmed the casting shake-up in an official announcement shared via the franchise’s Instagram account, writing: “Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule: Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart.”