Excitement has been hubble bubbling, toil and troubling within the Potter fandom! We already know that Fantastic Beasts is set for release in November 18, 2016. However, sooner than that, the first preview performance for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage-play in London is nearing – now only a week away!
So, Rowling and her co-writers, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, are sending us this week – not by owl but by internet – parcels filled with magical preview goodies! EW reports the release of new character portraits on Pottermore of the main trio. Below are the first images of the actors in costume, accompanied by Rowling’s own comments on the casting choice.
Harry Potter: Jamie Parker
“He simply is Harry now. There’s a kind of relief in watching him, he gets it so right.”
Ginny Potter (Weasley): Poppy Miller
“I think a lot of people would like to have Poppy’s Ginny for a mother. Kind and cool, exactly as I imagined her.”
Albus Severus Potter: Sam Clemmett
“There’s much I could say about Sam-as-Albus, but we’d be into spoiler territory so quickly I’ll just say we couldn’t have cast better.”
Pottermore has revealed that our other two favorites, Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley (Granger), will also feature in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Paul Thornley will be taking on the role of Ron and Noma Dumezweni of Hermione. It has been hinted that a second set of portraits are on their way, and will unveil these actors in character, too.
Like every other Potter fanatic, I wish I knew the ins and outs of this stage-play, but it has been very hush-hush. Therefore, I can only make my judgement based on the Harry and Ginny I know from the books and films. I think Harry looks aged not just physically but mentally (I think we’ll see just how great a toll the events of his childhood/teenhood took on him as a man), and I think Ginny looks like the rock in this story (I think she may have fared better than Harry in the aftermath and maintained a lighter heart). Albus is almost a new character entirely; nonetheless, I sense he will be soft and kind but, given his ancestry, may have a dark side.
Opening night for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is July 2016 and Rowling will be releasing the stage-play as an eighth novel through Scholastic on July 31, 2016. It’s all incredibly overwhelming!!!
Let us know in the comments if you have tickets to see the show! Share the excitement as our return to the Wizarding World draws ever-nearer!
