These actors could play Snape and McGonagall in Harry Potter TV series

They would join John Lithgow, who has been confirmed as the new Dumbledore

HBO are busy in pre-production on their TV adaptation of the Harry Potter series and reports are emerging of further major cast additions.

• READ MORE: ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ review: sparks of magic but the spell doesn’t hold

The new version of the J.K. Rowling saga was confirmed in April 2023, with each of the seven original books to receive its own season. The show is expected to premiere in late 2026 or early 2027.

Producers recently confirmed the casting of John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore, which the actor said had come “as a total surprise to me” but added that he is “very excited” to be involved in the franchise.

No other casting has been formally announced, but Deadline are now reporting that HBO are working on closing deals with Janet McTeer and Paapa Essiedu to fill the roles of Professor Minerva McGonagall and Professor Severus Snape respectively.

HBO have said: “We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation. As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”

Recommended

Francesca Gardiner, who has worked on Succession and Killing Eve, is serving as showrunner for the show and has said it will strive to stick to characters’ “canonical” ages based on the books, which would put Snape at only 31 in the first season.

Essiedu, 34, had his breakthrough in Michaela Coel’s BBC series I May Destroy You, receiving Emmy and BAFTA nominations. He has also starred in The Lazarus Project and Gangs Of London on TV and The Outrun and Murder On The Orient Express on the big screen.

McTeer, meanwhile, is a two-time Oscar nominee for her roles in Tumbleweeds (1999) and Albert Nobbs (2011). She has also appeared in The Old Man and Into The Storm and is set to be in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Some 32,000 children have auditioned for the core cast of characters, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Fans have also discussed the possibility of Cillian Murphy taking on the role of Voldemort, with Ralph Fiennes backing the Oppenheimer star for the role, too.