Last-minute change catching us by surprise. Just a couple of weeks ago, news broke that Gildory Lockhart, one of the most prominent characters in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, would debut in the HBO series with Nicholas Hoult as his interpreter. The actor had gone from becoming Superman’s worst nightmare to charming millions of fans of autobiographical books about magic, adventures, and a writer who is very humble with his craft.
However, there has been a complete shift in the character’s direction. HBO issued a statement via social media correcting the decision and announced that the role of Lockhart will now fall to a completely different actor: Kit Harington. Lex Luthor passes the legacy of the magical writer to Jon Snow, and thus opens the way for Harington to carve out a new name in the magical universe of the ‘Harry Potter’ series.
Change of Professor
The statement issued by HBO has been short and direct, leaving little room for speculation. “Before starting the second year of Hogwarts there has been a small change due to scheduling issues: now Kit Harington will portray the role of Gildory Lockhart,” they wrote. In the original report we had already noted that Hoult’s schedule seemed particularly tight in the coming years with a huge slate of projects, but we hadn’t imagined such a change, and certainly not so soon after the original announcement.
Kit Harington isn’t exactly an actor with few projects in the pipeline for the future, but his involvement in ‘Harry Potter’ fits better considering that his biggest projects are not currently active. His role as Jon Snow in ‘Game of Thrones’ ended seven years ago, and his future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Eternals’ never really took off. We’ll see if the role of Lockhart gives him new wings to help his career shine again.
It’s Not His First Time
One of the most notable aspects of having Harington in the Lockhart role is that this isn’t the actor’s first time portraying the character. The actor has already voiced the character on two occasions for the saga’s audiobooks, so this step feels completely natural for him. We’ll see if he can add the humorous touch the set needs when filming for the second season begins in a little over a year.
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