Hey everyone,
Welcome to another instalment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’ll be continuing our discussion around the casting of the much hyped-HBO reboot
of the Harry Potter series.
To date, I’ve covered many of the main characters introduced in The Philosopher’s Stone and
The Chamber of Secrets, so in today’s video, I’ll be focusing on some of the central
characters from—one of my personal favourites—The Prisoner of Azkaban.
Let’s get started.
Aunt Marge A fairly inconsequential, yet hard to forget
character, you likely remember the rather rude sister of Vernon Dursley—Aunt Marge.
Featured only in the beginning of The Prisoner of Azkaban, Marge’s lack of compassion and
general demeanour towards an orphaned Harry is incredibly offensive, and ultimately leads
to her being blown up like a balloon by Harry’s use of inadvertent magic.
In the films, Aunt Marge—or Marjorie Eileen Dursley, if you will—was portrayed by German
actress Pam Ferris.
I had absolutely no complaints about this casting at the time.
I thought Pam was quite entertaining in the role, and she did a terrific job making me
hate her.
So, in recasting Aunt Marge, I’d be tempted to give the role to another actress who I
know could absolutely nail the callousness and self-righteousness of Marge—Margo Martindale.
Margo has appeared in an incredible amount of film and television and has brought characters
similar to Aunt Marge to life with great results.
I personally feel that she would also be able to bring a certain amount of agreeability
to the role, which would make her very interesting to watch indeed.
My only hesitation is the fact that she’s American and I can’t comment on her ability
to do an English accent.
She may also be a little on the older side to play Aunt Marge.
But this will largely depend on who they cast as Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
Sirius Black In the original films, Sirius Black, Harry’s
estranged godfather and former member of The Marauders, was played by none other than Gary
Oldman.
While I have nothing against Gary Oldman and his performance of Sirius, the casting to
me never felt quite right.
Of course, much of this had to do with his age.
In the novels, Sirius was meant to be in his early 30s.
And while it’s true that he was described as having undergone a fair bit of physical
trauma due in large part to his time spent in Azkaban amongst the soul-sucking Dementors,
he was still said to be darkly handsome, casually elegant, and—well—young.
While I do understand the choice to cast an older actor—the filmmakers would’ve needed
to age Sirius up to align with Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape—as I said, it just never quite
worked for me.
With this in mind, I must admit that I hope the casting for the new Harry Potter series
will be more in line with the novels, which is probably why I find the fan casting choice
of British actor Ben Barnes to be a rather interesting one.
Evidently fans first put Ben up for the role more than a decade ago when there was hope
that a prequel series focusing on the Marauders may one day get made.
Alas, that was not to be, and at this point Ben would be too old to play a teenage Sirius
Black anyways—but he’s certainly not too old to portray an adult one.
With many film and television credits under his belt, from The Chronicles of Narnia to
Dorian Grey, and even his most recent role in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, Ben is no
stranger to film universes that have been built on loyal fandom and magic.
I think he could definitely pull off the haughty yet compassionate complexities of Sirius.
And while he looks rather young, Ben Barnes is actually in his early 40s, so his age works.
Another option that I think would be worth considering for the role of Sirius Black is
Kit Harrington.
Kit is most well known for his portrayal of Jon Snow in the Game of Thrones television
series.
He’s about the right age, he’s got the accent, and his depth and range of emotion
has been well-established on screen.
Of course, both these options only work if Snape is also cast in his 30s, since all of
these actors will need to be around the same age.
Remus Lupin The beloved werewolf, Marauder and former
best friend of James Potter, was originally played by David Thewlis.
Again, back in the 2000s, I was thrown by this casting choice, as he was quite a bit
older than I had pictured him while reading the books.
But, as with Gary Oldman, David Thewlis did a marvellous job at embodying the character
of Remus Lupin and his age made sense when matched up with the other characters of Snape
and Sirius.
So, who would I recast in this role?
The large majority of fans seem to wish to see Andrew Garfield as the new Remus Lupin.
And while he’s about the same age as, say Adam Driver—a fan favourite to play Snape—and
Ben Barnes, I’m not so sure I agree.
I think if Andrew Garfield does end up in this role, I wouldn't be upset about it—I
can see what fans are getting at—but he wouldn’t be my first choice.
Instead, I’d rather see someone like Daniel Sharman, a lesser-known actor born and raised
in London who began his career at The Royal Shakespeare Company.
He’s about the right age and, to me, he gives off the right balance of compassion
and melancholy needed for the role.
He’s also got experience playing a werewolf in the television series Teen Wolf!
One other British actor who I think could do well in the role is Joseph Quinn, best
known for his role as Eddie Munson in the fourth season of Stranger Things.
I think Joseph would be able to embody a warmth of character that perhaps Daniel Sharman’s
Lupin would lack.
That said, Joseph Quinn is in his late 20s and may be too young for the role.
Peter Pettigrew Originally portrayed by Timothy Spall, an
award-winning classical character actor, this role is a tricky one to cast.
Once again, Timothy Spall did an incredible job bringing the character of Wormtail to
life.
In terms of casting, however, I’d personally like to see the new HBO series focus a little
less on the rat-like appearance of Wormtail and more on his actual character.
I do understand that the filmmakers were likely trying to showcase what living as a rat for
over a decade had done to Peter and his physical attributes but it all felt a bit much to me.
Now, I’ve seen many fans suggest Dane DeHaan, an American actor, as their top choice for
Peter Pettigrew.
But to me, Dane is too young looking to play a 30-something-year-old Wormtail.
And I haven’t seen him perform without his American accent, so I can’t comment on his
ability to do so.
Instead, I personally would cast Jamie Bell, the British actor known for his portrayal
of the titular role of Billy in Billy Elliot.
Jamie looks about the right age and presents an air of underdogged innocence that I think
would perfectly embody Peter Pettigrew—you know, before he betrayed everyone he claimed
to care for.
I think Jamie would also add a bit of a something-to-prove chip on his shoulder to his performance, which
would keep things interesting and perhaps provide the audience with more insight into
why this former Marauder betrayed his best friends in favour of a psychopathic wizarding
overlord.
Professor Sybill Trelawney I must admit that Professor Sybill Trelawney
was never a favourite character of mine—that is until the incredible Emma Thompson was
cast as a quirky, somewhat charming version of the witch.
In my opinion, Emma provided a hilarity and absurdity to the role that was grounded in
a lovable ineptitude.
I thought it was brilliant.
Whoever fills this role certainly has big shoes to fill.
Recasting this character was definitely the most difficult one for me in today’s video.
I was looking for someone with the ability to be believably useless, entitled, and unknowingly
brilliant all at the same time, while also convincingly pulling off the insane attire
Sybill chooses to dress herself in.
I finally found someone who I think would be an excellent choice for the part of Professor
Trelawney—Juno Temple.
A seasoned actress with credits dating back to the early 2000s, you’ll likely know her
from her most recent role as Keeley Jones in the AppleTV hit, Ted Lasso.
She can be innocent, funny, sassy, intelligent, and a whole lot more.
I think she would do great things with this role.
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Do you agree with my casting choices?
Disagree?
Who would you like to see playing these characters?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…remember
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."