Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) was making the press rounds at the Toronto International Film Festival last week to promote his latest film, “Steve,” and was directly asked about the internet rumor he’s wanted to play the magical baddie Voldemort role in HBO’s “Harry Potter” reboot series.
His response to the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast about the Volemort casting rumor doesn’t sound like he’s entirely open to the idea of filling the shoes of the previous actor, Ralph Fiennes (the two are currently involved with the new “28 Years Later” trilogy at Sony Pictures, penned by franchise creator Alex Garland).
“No [laughs], my kids show me it occasionally, but no, I don’t know anything about that. I mean, also, it’s just really hard to follow anything Ralph Fiennes does. The man is an absolute acting legend. So, good luck to whoever is going to fill those shoes,” Murphy said when asked about the validity of the “Harry Potter” rumbling.
One issue would be the decade-long commitment to the series, as each season will explore a book adaptation, which could limit an actor’s ability to work elsewhere. While Murphy has been a huge face on TV in the last couple of years, thanks to Steven Knight’s gangster series “Peaky Blinders” (getting a feature film spinoff, which has been shot with Murphy returning), it remains to be seen if he’d actually want to be locked into a role like Voldemort and how much that could impact his yearly shooting schedule.
Speaking of Knight, he’s currently writing Denis Villeneuve’s “Bond 26,” and Murphy was also asked by host Josh Horowitz about his desire to give that franchise a shot or if his Bond days were “over.”
“I think so. Look, I think that’s a wonderful team. I mean, they’re both at the top of their game. I think it’ll be very exciting,” Murphy said of Knight working with Villeneuve and his thoughts on the spy project.
That said, the “Harry Potter” series is currently filming with a cast that features Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, and Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge.
HBO has announced that “Potter” will have a tentative release sometime in 2027, but we’re still waiting on a concrete date and confirmation on who will actually fill that Voldemort role.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
