HBO has found its Arthur Weasley: Rafe Spall takes the role Mark Williams played in eight films

Right, so HBO’s new Harry Potter series is well underway, and if you’ve been following the whole slow-drip casting parade, here’s the next batch of names to join the Great Hall. Production is happening now at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, which is basically Hogwarts’ second home at this point.

New Faces in the Castle

First up, the big headline: Rafe Spall has been tapped as Arthur Weasley. If you’ve seen Under Salt Marsh or The Ritual, you’ll know he’s got the knack for eccentric. He’ll be dancing awkwardly in the Muggle objects cupboard and generally keeping the Weasley household from going entirely off the rails — shoes previously worn by Mark Williams in the films. Worth remembering: Arthur is at the heart of the wizarding family tree, dad to Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and the entire red-haired brigade.

Then we’ve got Molly Hewitt-Richards bringing Moaning Myrtle back to life — or, you know, staying dead and whinging in the girls’ toilets. She’s been cropping up in Code of Silence on BritBox and squeezed in a stint on Casualty (a rite of passage for British actors). Moaning Myrtle, of course, rattles around the second-floor bathroom, endlessly revisiting her run-in with the Basilisk. Fans still disagree whether this was bad luck or a bit more deliberate, but if you want ghosts who do subtlety, you’re in the wrong castle.

The teeny, ever-enthusiastic Colin Creevey will be played by Jasper Ambrose (last seen chasing sheep in The Sheep Detectives). Colin’s that Muggle-born camera obsessive, peering at Harry behind a lens and documenting everything until things get rather too serious for his liking later in the books.

Season 1 will premiere Christmas Day, 25 December 2026.

A Growing Wizarding Lineup

This news comes on the heels of a handful of other big additions for Season 2. To keep things straight, here’s how the cast is shaking out:

• Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart (yes, that Kit Harington)
• Bonnie Hill as Ginny Weasley
• Lenny Rush as Dobby
• Billy Barratt as young Tom Riddle

They’re piling onto the regulars: Dominic McLaughlin is Harry, Arabella Stanton is Hermione, Alastair Stout is Ron. Among the faculty, it’s heavyweights all round — John Lithgow takes Dumbledore (that’s a wildcard), Janet McTeer is stepping into McGonagall’s tartan, Paapa Essiedu is up as Snape, and Nick Frost lumbers in as Hagrid. You won’t be short of familiar faces — or at least familiar voices.

The short version: cameras are rolling on Season 2 now, and if you’re not counting down for your Portkey, the wait for new Hogwarts adventures isn’t all that long — first episodes are set to land on Christmas Day 2026.