Nicholas Hoult is heading to Hogwarts.
The Superman and The Great actor has been cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter television series, according to Variety.
Lockhart enters the story during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which will serve as the basis for the show’s second season. A celebrity author known throughout the wizarding world for books recounting his supposed encounters with dangerous magical creatures, Lockhart becomes Hogwarts’ new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor during Harry’s second year at the school.
The character was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Hoult will become the latest actor to offer a new interpretation of a familiar character as HBO adapts J.K. Rowling’s seven-book series for television.
The casting also brings Hoult back to a franchise he nearly joined much earlier in his career. The actor previously auditioned for both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy while the original films were being cast. Daniel Radcliffe ultimately landed the role of Harry, while Tom Felton was cast as Draco.
Hoult’s recent credits include playing Lex Luthor opposite David Corenswet in James Gunn’s Superman. He also starred as Peter III in Hulu’s The Great, earning two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination for his performance. His other film credits include Nosferatu, Juror #2, The Menu, Mad Max: Fury Road and the X-Men franchise.
HBO’s Harry Potter series stars Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The adult cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
The television adaptation is led by showrunner Francesca Gardiner, who serves as writer and executive producer. Mark Mylod serves as an executive producer and director, with J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts and David Heyman also among the executive producers.
The series is designed to adapt the Harry Potter novels across multiple seasons, giving each book considerably more screen time than was available in the original feature films. Season 2 will move the story into Chamber of Secrets, bringing Lockhart and other characters introduced in the second novel into the television adaptation.
Hoult’s casting comes before audiences have seen the first season of the new series, with HBO already moving forward with its adaptation of Harry’s second year at Hogwarts.