Nicholas Hoult cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in HBO Harry Potter season 2

booksAug 12, 20261147,892

Variety and Deadline report that Nicholas Hoult has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in season 2 of HBO’s Harry Potter television series. The role was previously portrayed on film by Kenneth Branagh in the second movie. Coverage of the casting has intersected with criticism of the Harry Potter franchise’s creator, with commentators and opinion pieces framing participation in the series as ethically fraught because of the creator’s public transphobic statements. Hoult’s casting is confirmed for season 2 but no production dates, episode counts, or on-screen debut timing were provided in the reports.

Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉

@scumbelievable.bsky.social

crushed to learn Nicholas Hoult exploded on the set of SUPERMAN and died and is now dead. deadline.com/2026/08/nich...

310545d ago

Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉333

all future appearances will be made by longtime Hoult impersonator Aloysius "Gator" Galette

death before detransition182

All British actors will knife you in an alleyway for a few bucks is what I'm learning recently! God dammit!

Joe Flynn155

Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor bald cap caught fire on the Superman set and burned his entire head like that time the Dothraki poured molten gold on the Targaryen bro in season 1 of Game of Thrones. Rest in peace, Nicholas Hoult.

TheKonamiMan 🇵🇷🍉86

I was about to use the Nick Frost from Hot Fuzz "Shame" gif but then I remembered he is in this bullshit too.

Benjamin Franklinstein51

So, are there actually children who enjoy HP stuff these days, or is the entire fanbase just Potter Adults?

Finnsane in the Membrane™38

Both him AND Lithgow... youtu.be/efm56xgyyyE?...

Quoting this

Crystal Frasier113

Whelp… there goes any interest I had in the renewed DC cinematic universe. Rot in Hell, Hoult.

Tréveron31

Nada, no va a haber ni una puta película que me guste sin que tenga a un actor o actriz que me haga arrugar el morro... Cuando no es un "ese es tránsfobo" es un "ese es pro-israelí" o ya si nos volvemos locos un "ese es maltratador - agresor sexual". Qué puto asco de todo bsky.app/profile/scum...

olivia (or noodle) 💞16

and now, a few words from smolivia.

Matt G. ♾️13

*sigh ..Do you really think I have to explain this. -_- bsky.app/profile/scum...

Mike 🍁10

He actually passed away on the set of of Mad Max after insisting on 100% realism while filming his final scenes

ChiliDishGambino7

Hollywoods like “be a trans ally? In THIS economy??”

Meri Ficcionteca🎬📚7

Cojo un actor británico lo tiro por el retrete y ya son 5.503 los que el retrete se ha tragado.

Ryan Wilson6

New dead to me celebrity…

Dan Pop-o-matic5

FFS. At this stage, they either don't know about JKR's views, don't care about them or agree with them. I don't care if they come out later and say they support trans people. By being in this binfire they are contributing to the active harm of that community.

PR_Deadpool5

James Gunn : WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO FUCK ME MAN COME ON

Goku Missile Crisis

@babadooknukem.bsky.social

Bad news babe Nicholas Hoult is dead to us now. Yeah that guy you liked from Skins. He's in a Harry Potter now. No, its not the movies, its on HBO. Like a tv show. Yeah they color graded it like a Danish prestige murder drama for some reason. Looks like complete shit.

125245d ago

Blue sky nice ghost36

Imagine God giving you Nick Hoult's face and wasting it like this

marlo30

not the danish prestige murder drama colour grading joke 💀

Gwiggs19

Serious question, does anyone think this show is actually going to get 7 seasons? Even if JKR weren't a hideous bigot, seems like a huge commitment to assume people are going to sign up for 7 years of a shitty story theyve already seen before

andrew16

shit i just re-watched fury road and was like “that nicholas hoult, nice young man and talented actor”

Armak for the Resistance ⚜️12

Skins?!? That’s what he’s known for? He’s Lex Luthor! He’s Renfield! He brought the world “WITNESS ME!!” (also he’s Toni Collette’s cutie from ABOUT A BOY who whispers Juvenile lyrics in the hallway)

Artifice7

i have been waiting for something to justify my irrational visceral dislike of that guy

Quoting this

Josephine "beckbook.com" Riesman75

This is kinda what blows my mind. You've got these actors convincing themselves they will gain immortality by being the SECOND (or, in some cases, the THIRD or FOURTH) actor to play a character adapted from a book. On TV, not even in movies

Dan Reilly53

Dobby’s gonna die on a couch when Harry nods out on top of him in a potion stupor

Nash

@radiodeadair.com

This isn't even like burning down your reputation to play Snape or Dumbledore or something. This is like "I'm sorry about the trans people but I just couldn't pass up the chance to portray Nien Numb."

78545d ago

Nash184

"Oh what are you gonna do not watch the next Superman film" motherfucker I've been not watching Superman films since 2013 and with one exception I've gotten really good at it.

Gojiragon40

I'm legit starting to think that after this, J.K. is blackmailing British actors into starring in her shit show with threats of lawsuits or some other financial hit.

LibrarianWriterGeek20

This show is for actors what the Riyadh Comedy Festival was for comedians: A big way to tell your fans that, regardless of your stated values, you do have a price.

Couchman17

Nah man, this is *worse* than Nien Nub.

Patrick Stuart Sutcliffe11

Why did Nien Nunb catch a stray?

Jeremy Adler9

Shame he really seems to have become Lex Luthor.

Quoting this

✨CHELLE D☯GGO✨(she/they)40

people with no moral compass rushing to HBO studios to play unimportant one-off character Blumbus Bimbus in Harry Potter

Cezary Jan Strusiewicz23

Another one goes into the garbage can. Too bad, I liked him as Luthor. But rules are rules.

Socks the Plushy ✡️13

You weren't supposed to ACTUALLY be Lex Luthor

Mao Mao!11

Destroying any goodwill you built up to play fucking Lockhart is like damn. It's not even like "oh it's a challenging role" like you're playing Dipshit the Clown here.

Alexis Sara9

Every single actor attached to this is dead to me and I think we should ignore their films and treat them like dirt.

Strain42 but on Bluesky7

More like Nicholas DOLT! …got ‘em

Aurora6

Goddammit bro Lex was a ROLE not a SUGGESTION

The Swampert Stan4

Damn. DC wasn’t paying him enough.

Elyse3

Deeply frustrated that my options when looking to enjoy some kind of media now are either a) spend hours doing research on the creatives to confirm they haven't engaged with super problematic people/companies, or b) decide not to enjoy the media because the research will take too long.

Jirachibi! 🏳️‍⚧️3

Bro agreed to transphobic shit to play a character that shows up in Season 2 and then has a small cameo in Season 5. At least with Snape and Dumbledore and Voldemort you can argue those are big name characters that are in cultural lexicon or whatever.

Chris Person

@papapishu.bsky.social

Winning the Harry Potter intellectual property in an Infowars style lawsuit and instantly putting gender affirming magic into the lore. Ollivanders started selling magic pussies out the back.

46245d ago

Chris Person135

They put a guy’s face on the back of another guy’s head it just seems like this would be child’s play in-universe

The Wizard15

You cant tell me there isnt a black market for that people-changing juice they used like 4 times. Transform into anyone if you can get their DNA? And entire economy of wards on hair brushes to keep thieves from stealing a couple hairs.

Ruby Quail6

Tbh, the fandom already sort of tried to do that, not legally, but culturally (I think they tried to head cannon Snape as trans, which is not the kind of inclusion we’re looking for tbh), like it needs to be obnoxious trans inclusion enough to make the whole thing unconsumable as anything else

kat5

girl who was ur transmuter? im doing consults rn

Kirsten3

Gonna light some very special candles for this tonight

LprdShark1

That the polyjuice potion thing didn't lead to a gender switcheroo should have been a tell. *Every* other 90s children's book author and cartoonist would've had one of those kids wind up in an opposite gender body.

Quoting this

Wings of Silver168

JK Rowling popped like a balloon

chort but in japanese (チョルト)2

lol like how ed greenwood talks about how people in forgotten realms d&d love changing genders constantly

Slayyytim

@bigtwange.bsky.social

Nicholas Hoult is a loser ass bitch pass it on

20044d ago

Buhlakay26

What really gets me is he’s famous enough and working plenty like he can’t even argue that he needs the exposure…

jort-hk.bsky.social7

Really hope he gets called out a bunch during press tours for Man of Tomorrow.

Quoting this

Mikepole1527

I stole this from threads but its too real.

Carlos B. Eaton8

Literally the entire cast even the children and their dumbass parents

DiscussingFilm

@discussingfilm.net

Nicholas Hoult has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in Season 2 of the ‘HARRY POTTER’ TV series. (Source: Deadline)

13145d ago

Jake57

They keep falling for it. Buddy, you can do most anything. Why this?

King Bigfoot12

Just another greedy celeb, willing to take a fat paycheck even though he doesn’t need it no matter the consequences to people he probably doesn’t even think about.

Onemariobro9

And like that, everyone fucking hates you

istolethecarradio.bsky.social3

Oh, I forgot this show existed. I'll go back to forgetting now

Enemy of the world3

That's the guy from the menu, right? He should be killed and cannibalized.

Fenny1

Hate this shit. Fuck him and HP bullshit.

Quoting this

Livvy✨🚀🪨17

1.) fucking BOOOOOOO 2.) Rhys Darby is the most obvious casting choice for Lockhart, and thank the SWEET BABY JESUS he isn’t in it 🙏

vera (spicy mode)8

sorry but brits have got to be the most spiritually cucked group of people in the world

rdmacq.bsky.social6

Why? He has a career.

Be pan do crime 🎃5

Se tomó muy en serio eso de ser lex Luthor, Manzano atácalo!!!

klia 🌻4

So disappointing. I've been following his career since About a Boy. Another actor who doesn't seem to have a problem making money for that transphobic POS.

jason bourne de calcinha from osasco3

eu esperava isso de todo mundo menos de vc nick

Stellan (they/he)3

GODDAMNIT, NICHOLAS. Shame on you.

Dr Nick Dickinson3

This show could well be a second Rings of Power- a series where, in the likely event it’s terrible, they’re so committed it has to be finished anyway because it would be too embarrassing not to.

Seri 😸2

Participation in a genocidal money laundering scheme is punk rock as FUCK!

Norm Harper2

Man, if WB thought Supergirl underperformed, wait until they see the Man of Tomorrow numbers.

รℓσαɳε ℓყรɓεƭɦ 🏳️‍🌈

@sloanelysbeth.bsky.social

harry potter actors would sit for a portrait by hitler and then do interviews talking about how they disagree with his politics they jus love art.

9845d ago

Adam Williams9

The quality of HP and his paintings is very much on par as well lmao

Hapexamandios - Ian C3

We need to respect people's beliefs even if we don't agree with them! For example, some people want to murder other people and we all need to respect that opinion even if we disagree with it. And yes, stochastic murder is murder. So try find that middle ground, aka 'the centre'.

headfallsoff

@headfallsoff.com

you just know nicholas hoult was doing the full james acaster over the announcements

11245d ago

foggles17

it is such a slow drip of em

the legendary beast6

you can press a button and recieve $200,000 but someone you don't know will be announced in hp revival

Aidan Comerford

@aidancomerford.bsky.social

In years to come, the actors taking roles in Harry Potter (inc. the current audiobooks) are going to be doing "well, how was I to know?" interviews like this. A lot of them are using Winslet's original *well, I wouldn't know much about that* defence right now. variety.com/2020/film/ne...

7645d ago

Jennifer O'Meara3

I didn't know that she had worked for them. Her excuses are pathetic and insulting.

NevereverDave.bsky.social3

Pointless sad article really. She learned loads from Allen regrets the pay check - guess that's going to women's refuge...... yeah, thought not.

Quoting this

Lee Hurley65

Quite a few are on record as being well aware of what her views are, because they say they don't share them. They can try and deny, we will have their own words...

Leona21

Kate Winslet saying she didn’t know what was truth or rumours about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski is absolutely pathetic

Paula Wirth

@paulawirth.bsky.social

THIS is how one writes a headline. "Nicholas Hoult casts unforced error spell on career, joins Harry Potter show" (oh, and FCK JK Rowlings)

6445d ago

victoria zeller🫛 (RISEBALL, summer ‘27)

@dirtbagqueer.rocks

this is brutal both because i have always adored nicholas hoult, but also bc its terrible casting for both him and lockhart??????

9344d ago

victoria zeller🫛 (RISEBALL, summer ‘27)44

i was never a huge harry potter fan and i don’t say that as like, revisionist history - i read them once when i was 10 and thought they were good enough - but lockhart is a character that i actually remember pretty well. nicholas hoult should always be playing a Fucked Up Little Guy

Aric and The Man Who Shot Cane Skeeteburg1

Tanking your own legacy and career by signing up to be badly cast in Trans Extermination and the Moldy Castle

britt🆘🇺🇸1

I’m curious to know if JK R*wling is involved with casting with this one?

Emma Evans

@trance.bsky.social

@jamesgunn.bsky.social I've been told by my BFF that perhaps people are unaware, and since I'm terminally online and woke I just assume everyone knows. So, I love your DCU, and I love the work you do. And I won't be paying or talking about the next Superman movie because Nicholas Hoult

6344d ago

Emma Evans31

(who I also REALLY liked his work) has decided to work on the 'new' Harry Potter reboot, and thus putting money directly into JK Rowlings already fat pockets...money she uses openly and directly to hurt transgender people, specifically targeting women. Rowling has also said that people supporting