HBO Harry Potter series officially reveals who’s playing Dumbledore, Snape and other Hogwarts teachers

After numerous reports and in some cases direct confirmations from the stars themselves, HBO has announced the first six members of the upcoming Harry Potter TV series it is making, all of whom are playing key members of the Hogwarts teaching staff and are some fan favorite characters.

Officially, John Lithgow is set to play Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is playing Professor Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essideu is confirmed to portray Professor Severus Snape and Nick Frost is playing Rubeus Hagrid. All four are going to be series regulars on the show.

Two other actors were confirmed in what are being billed as guest/recurring roles for the first season, though are well known characters to Potter fans. Luke Thallon has been tapped to play Professor Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse is portraying Argus Filch.

HBO’s Harry Potter TV series is being described as a “faithful adaptation” of the iconic Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, with each season tackling one book. The series about a boy wizard who learns magic and must rise to the challenge of facing a dark lord seeking to rule the wizarding world was previously adapted into eight movies that are just about as beloved as the books and made billions at the worldwide box office. Though if there were any complaints from fans it was that the movies couldn’t get all of the details from the books in, something the TV show can potentially fix.

Lithgow had openly confirmed that he was playing Dumbledore ahead of this announcement. He is now the fourth person to portray the role, following Richard Harris in the first two Harry Potter movies, Michael Gambon for the remaining six movies following Harris' death and Jude Law in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Lithgow is coming off an Oscar nomination for his role in Conclave and is a six-time Emmy winner for Amazing Stories, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dexter and The Crown.

McTeer actually just starred opposite Lithgow in the spy drama The Old Man season 2, so the two will continue to work together despite that show’s cancellation. Among McTeer’s other notable roles are her Oscar-nominated work in Albert Nobbs and Tumbleweeds, Emmy-nominated work in Into the Storm and other roles like The Menu, Kaos and Ozark. She takes on McGonagall, the role that was famously played by Magige Smith in the original movies.

Essideu taking on the role of Snape, which in the original movies was memorably played by Alan Rickman, is another one that has long been reported and is now confirmed. Essideu earned an Emmy nomination for this work in I May Destroy You and has also starred in Gangs of London, The Lazarus Project and The Outrun.

Taking over the role of Rubeus Hagrid that originally was played by Robbie Coltrane in the movies, is Frost. Frost is well known for his work with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, including in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. More recently he’s been seen in Skeleton Crew and is starring in How to Train Your Dragon.

Playing Professor Quirrell, Thallon will be a new name for many, as he only has a few credits listed on IMDb, including an uncredited role in The Favourite and as part of the cast of Present Laughter, a stage production that was filmed and shown on the big screen.

Finally, Whitehouse is a veteran UK actor, the winner of five BATFAs for The Fast Show, Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul and Help. Some of his other notable roles have included Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, The Death of Stalin, The Personal History of David Copperfield and The Change.

There is still no word on who will be playing the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger and the other students of Hogwarts, but it is expected that those will be new names, much like Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were when they were cast.

The earliest we’d likely be getting the Harry Potter TV series is 2026, so if this has you itching to watch something Harry Potter related, all eight movies are streaming right now on Max and Peacock in the US; they’re streaming on Netflix in the UK.