HBO’s upcoming blockbuster Harry Potter show has cast effectively every major lead and side-character who will appear in its first season, allegedly out in 2027, save one.
That would be Voldemort himself, the arch-villain of the entire franchise, one who gets more and more screen time as the series presses on. HBO has been quiet, but an actor has been rumored as potentially taking the part for months now. That is Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, but now, when asked directly by The Times, he has firmly shot this down.
“I’m categorically not,” Murphy said. “Can you make that the headline?”
Cillian Murphy is famously “off the grid,” staying largely offline to the point where it’s said he didn’t even know these rumors existed for a time. And how did they exist? That is mainly thanks to one man, Ralph Fiennes, who played Voldemort across eight Harry Potter movies.
Previously, Fiennes “endorsed” Cillian Murphy as someone who would be a good choice to fill his shoes, but that got even more press when he seemed to confirm Murphy was cast. During interviews for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (a franchise Murphy is a core part of), Fiennes said:
“Well, I’m told they’re already filled, aren’t they?”
Then later, “I’ve already said, I think Cillian Murphy is very good. Very good. Very good choice. I think they’ve cast it, haven’t they?”
The implication was that Murphy had already gotten the part, though Fiennes clearly didn’t really have a firm grasp on the state of the process. Again, HBO has not said anything publicly about any of this, but now Murphy appears to be putting his foot down.
It’s not exactly a shock, as the actor has many upcoming projects and likely more he wants to do, now that he’s 49. Playing a key role in an HBO Harry Potter show is nothing short of a ten-year commitment, one that seems particularly tough for Dumbledore actor John Lithgow, now 80.
Murphy has a few upcoming film projects. His next is Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, in which he returns to his famous TV role. He will be a part of the next 28 Years Later movie, provided that it actually gets greenlit after The Bone Temple underperformed. He’s attached to a film called Blood Runs Coal and rumored to be in a future Damien Chazelle project, of La La Land fame.
There are still rumors that HBO was auditioning male and female actors for the part of Voldemort, a change from the books and the movies, if a woman were selected. They have not done that with any other roles so far, and it remains to be seen if they’d make that change. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything about Voldemort that requires him to be a man, but it would feel a bit like change for its own sake. But no, it’s not Cillian Murphy.
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