The Harry Potter remake is in that wonderful uncertain phase where fans can share their own casting ideas and speculation without limitation, and one idea for Uncle Vernon Dursley and Aunt Petunia just took Reddit by storm. User u/Tortellini_Isekai proposed that Matt Berry play Uncle Vernon, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge play Aunt Petunia — complete with a graphic showing their best looks for the roles. The post got thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments, with many saying this was the best idea they’ve seen yet for Harry’s Muggle guardians. Not only do they match the descriptions from the books, they have the chops for these particularly melodramatic characters.
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Vernon and Petunia were played by Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw respectively in the Harry Potter films, and their performances were praised by critics and fans. As with so many other roles, re-casting these will be a tall order, but this proposal really caught fans’ attention. Berry is best known for British sitcoms like Toast of London and The IT Crowd, and more recently, for Hulu’s vampire comedy What We Do In The Shadows. Waller-Bridge had her breakout just a few years ago as the creator, head writer, and star of Fleabag.
Portraying the Dursleys is a challenge in its own right, with many ways it could play out. Both the early Harry Potter novels and the early movies play their abuse of Harry with a twist of comedy, or at least irony, and at times Harry seems to be more frustrated by their behavior than traumatized. It’s only later, when his personality has been allowed to flourish outside of their house, that he reflects on how harmful they were to him.
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We can only assume the remake series will try to mimic that tone, but it could always take a different approach. The show’s stated goal to is be the most faithful adaptation of the books possible, and for that, we’ll need guardians as over-the-top and repressed as possible.
As with any Harry Potter casting, we also have to wonder if Berry and Waller-Bridge would agree to take these roles in the first place. Rowling is an executive producer on this production, and the studio has opted to stand by her in spite of her aggressive campaign against transgender rights. Some actors have already said they wouldn’t work on this show with Rowling, and many fans are boycotting the franchise in general due to Rowling’s rhetoric. Actors who work on the show will likely have to answer some uncomfortable questions about this issue, and may face rejection from certain sects of the fandom.
So far, the only casting news that has been confirmed is that John Lithgow is playing Professor Albus Dumbledore, and while a few other rumors seem reliable, HBO has not verified them. The Harry Potter series is in production now and is expected to premiere sometime in 2026.
