Insiders have named the actor who was offered the role of Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” series
HBO, which is working on the Harry Potter series, is in talks with a candidate for the role of Professor Severus Snape. The creators of the series see the British actor Paapa Essiedu as the best candidate to play the mysterious wizard on screen.
This was reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Sources claim that the star has already been offered the role. Snape is a sinisterly intelligent and casually cruel potions master from Hogwarts, who is the main antagonist of the story in the first season of the series, based on the debut novel by J. K . Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” published in 1997. The late Alan Rickman played this role in eight Warner Bros. films.
No actor has been officially invited to join the new HBO project, which is scheduled to premiere in 2026. Nevertheless, speculation among fans of the Harry Potter universe continues about who could play the familiar characters. In particular, Potter fans would like to see Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy in the role of Voldemort, but the fans’ wishes are currently unrealistic, the sources added.
If Essiedu gets the role of Snape, it will mean that HBO will fulfill its promise that the series will have a diverse cast. Previously, the films have been criticized for having few black actors in the lead roles. In a statement about Essiedu’s casting, the show’s creators said: “We realize that such a high-profile series will generate a lot of rumors and speculation. As we are going through pre-production, we will only confirm details when we finalize deals.”
Paapa Essiedu, 34, began his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he played the title role in productions of “Hamlet” and “King Lear.” He has since gone on to play roles in the films “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Men,” as well as the TV series “Gangs of London,” “The Lazarus Project,” and the Black Mirror episode “Demon 79.” His breakthrough role was in the HBO miniseries “I May Destroy You,” for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Television Academy Award.
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