Ralph Fiennes has some knowhow for the next You-Know-Who. The 28 Years Later actor played He Who Must Not Be Named — a.k.a. Tom Riddle, a.k.a. the Dark Lord Voldemort — in five of the eight Harry Potter movies released between 2005 and 2011, in which the noseless dark wizard wore nothing but lengthy black robes. Now that the casting process is underway for HBO’s Harry Potter television series, Fiennes has some advice for donning the Dark Lord’s wardrobe.
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“Make sure you can handle the long, flowing robes — and don’t trip over them,” Fiennes told Entertainment Tonight. “Practice your long, flowing robe walk.”
Fiennes recalled being outfitted for 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and wearing tights that were one piece with a gusset that “kept getting lower and lower throughout the shooting day and became uncomfortable.”
“So then I said I want to have individual tights like a garter belt,” he continued, before joking, “I enjoyed teasing the stunt guys by lifting up my robes and showing them my garter belt.”
A new Voldemort actor hasn’t been cast, but Fiennes approved a popular fan cast for the villain role: 28 Days Later star and Oppenheimer Oscar winner Cillian Murphy.
“Cillian is a fantastic actor,” Fiennes said during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live. “That’s a wonderful suggestion. I would be all in favor of Cillian.”
HBO’s Harry Potter reboot has cast the main trio — the eponymous Boy Who Lived (Dominic McLaughlin) and his best friends, Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout) and Hermione Granger (Arabella Stanton) — along with Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (John Lithgow), Transfiguration professor Minerva McGonagall (Janet McTeer), Potions Master Severus Snape (Paapa Essiedu), and groundskeeper Hagrid (Nick Frost).
The network describes the live-action series as “a faithful adaptation” of the Harry Potter books by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling.
Francesca Gardiner (HBO’s Succession and His Dark Materials) is serving as showrunner and executive producer. Mark Mylod (HBO’s Game of Thrones and The Last of Us) is an executive producer and will direct multiple episodes of the series.
Rowling will executive produce with Neil Blair (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and Ruth Kenley-Letts (C.B. Strike) via Rowling’s Brontë Film and TV in association with HBO and Warner Bros. Television. David Heyman, the Oscar-nominated producer of the Harry Potter films, Barbie, and Wonka, is also executive producing via his Heyday Films. HBO’s Harry Potter is expected to premiere in 2026 on HBO and HBO Max.
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