Twenty-five years after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) introduced audiences to the wizarding world on the big screen, the franchise continues to expand in many ways.
While many of the original cast members moved on long ago (including the main trio, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson), a select group of actors have returned, either reprising their roles or taking on new ones in completely different timelines.
Luke Youngblood — “Hogwarts Legacy”
Credit: Warner Bros.
One of the first examples of this came through gaming. Luke Youngblood, who played Gryffindor student and Quidditch commentator Lee Jordan in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), returned to the wider franchise by voicing a new character, a Ravenclaw student Everett Clopton in the open-world video game “Hogwarts Legacy” (2023), which takes place in the late 1800s.
Tom Felton — Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Credit: Warner Bros.
In a more high-profile return, actor Tom Felton, who played Slytherin student Draco Malfoy in all eight Harry Potter films, officially reprised the role on stage this year in the Broadway version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is set 19 years after the events of Deathly Hallows. In the critically acclaimed stage play, Felton plays an older Draco, and his return marks the first time a film actor has played the same character in another medium.
Related: A Ninth ‘Harry Potter’ Film Alongside HBO Reboot Could Mean Wizarding World Multiverse
Jamie Campbell Bower and Hebe Beardsall — Fantastic Beasts
Credit: Warner Bros.
Jamie Campbell Bower, who played a young Gellert Grindelwald in flashback scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part I (2010), reprised his role as the dark wizard in similar scenes in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018). In that film, the “present day” version of Grindelwald was played by Johnny Depp, who was later replaced by actor Mads Mikkelsen in the sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).
Hebe Beardsall also reprised her role as Ariana Dumbledore, sister of the Hogwarts headmaster of the same surname, having first appeared as the character in a portrait in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).
Warwick Davis — Harry Potter TV Series
Credit: Warner Bros.
The upcoming Harry Potter television series has also brought back a familiar name. Warwick Davis, who played both Gringotts Bank’s Griphook and Hogwarts’ Professor Filius Flitwick in the film franchise, has been cast to play the latter character again in the new adaptation. Davis’ return connects the reboot directly to the original films while allowing the character to be reinterpreted for television.
Arabella Stanton — Harry Potter TV Series and Audiobook Series
Credit: Inside the Magic
That series will also star Arabella Stanton, who has been cast as Hermione Granger. However, the young actress also voices Hermione in the brand-new audiobooks, Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, making her the first performer to take on the role across two major formats at once.
The Harry Potter television series is now in production. John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall), Paul Whitehouse (Argus Filch), Katherine Parkinson (Molly Weasley), Alastair Stout (Ron Weasley), and Dominic McLaughlin (Harry Potter) are among its extensive cast.
The series will have seven seasons, each based upon one of Rowling’s books. It’s written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (HBO’s Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve).
J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films are also onboard as executive producers. Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive-produce and direct multiple episodes. Season 1 is expected to premiere in 2027.
Which other actors would you like to see return to Harry Potter? Let us know!
