UPDATED: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Casts Its Trio!

by · December 20, 2015

With 2016 on the horizon, we’ve known for a while that casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been underway. Now, Daily Mail reporter Baz Bamigboye has tweeted that the play has found its Harry, Ron, and Hermione!

The official Twitter account for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has retweeted Bamigboye’s tweets, confirming the casting news.

Actor Paul Thornley will be playing Ron:

 

 

Actor Jamie Parker has been cast as Harry:

 

 

Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni has been cast as Hermione, making her the first actress to play a member of the trio as a person of color:

 

 

Bamigboye followed his announcement tweets by providing information on the actors’ current projects.

Jamie Parker can be seen in Guys and Dolls, running at the Savoy Theatre:

 

 

Noma Dumezweni can currently be seen in Linda at the Royal Court Theatre:

 

 

Meanwhile, Paul Thornley is currently filming the upcoming Netflix UK drama series The Crown:

 

 

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UPDATE (9:31 p.m.):

The Daily Mail has published an article on the casting.

Rowling never made a point of Hermione’s ethnicity, and there’s no textual evidence to indicate that she is, necessarily, white.

Hermione is described as having unruly brown ‘bushy hair’, which she hates. In fact, there are screeds of essays and scholarly works arguing that Hermione could be black. One piece observed that she was born to Muggle, non-wizard, parents and was considered an outsider at Hogwarts – and coded as a racial minority in the wizarding world.

Director [John] Tiffany said he had simply cast the best possible actors, noting that they ‘will be an incredible and estimable triumvirate’.

The article also provides more information about the three actors themselves:

Dumezweni, who lives with her young daughter in London, took over the title role in the play Linda, now running at the Royal Court, with only four days notice after Sex [a]nd [t]he City star Kim Cattrall dropped out. Her performance received rave reviews.

She won an Olivier award in 2006 for her role in the play A Raisin [i]n [i]he Sun, is an associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company and has appeared in Doctor Who.

Thornley, who is married to and has two children with Casualty star Chloe Howman, has made countless appearances on such staple fare as Holby City, Doctors, Poirot and Life Begins. And he played opposite Olivia Colman in the film London Road.

The article notes that it is “likely” that Thornley’s hair will be dyed to match Ron’s for the play.

[Jamie Parker] has had a stellar career, having struck gold as Scripps in The History Boys. He has played Henry V on stage and Hamlet on the radio. He is presently playing Sky Masterson in Guys & Dolls at the Savoy Theatre.

Cursed Child producer Sonia Friedman was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that the casting was a “collective decision” involving J.K. Rowling, director John Tiffany, writer Jack Thorne, fellow producer Colin Callender, and herself.

She added that the production will not be high-tech production, although special effects experts and an illusionist have been hired:

There will be magic.

—

UPDATE (December 21):

Official Press Release

JAMIE PARKER, NOMA DUMEZWENI AND PAUL THORNLEY

TO LEAD THE CAST AS HARRY, HERMIONE AND RON

IN THE WORLD PREMIERE OF

H A R R Y   P O T T E R   A N D   T H E   C U R S E D   C H I L D

PARTS I & II

WWW.HARRYPOTTERTHEPLAY.COM

 

Today, Monday 21 December 2015, the Producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are delighted to announce that Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornley will lead the cast as Harry, Hermione and Ron.

J.K. Rowling said:  “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage [sic] next summer.”

Directed by John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will receive its world premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016 and is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage [sic].  Further casting for the Company of over 30 will be announced at a later date.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is one play presented in two parts. Both parts are intended to be seen in order on the same day (matinee and evening), or on two consecutive evenings.  Previews begin 7 June 2016 with the Opening performances of Part One and Part Two on Saturday 30 July 2016. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently booking to 27 May 2017.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

 Jamie Parker is currently playing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Savoy Theatre, a role he previously performed at Chichester Festival Theatre where he has also been seen in Drama, Holes in the Skin, Seagulls, The Coffee House, The Commuter and The Gondoliers.  His other theatre credits include High Society at the Old Vic, Assassins and Proof for the Menier Chocolate Factory, Candida for the Theatre Royal Bath, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Henry V, Henry IV Parts One and Two, A New World and As You Like It  for Shakespeare’s Globe, King James Bible, The Revenger’s Tragedy and The History Boys all for the National Theatre the latter also on Broadway, Racing Demon for Sheffield Crucible, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Chichester Festival Theatre, My Zinc Bed for the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Singer for the Tricycle Theatre, At the Exit for Chichester Edge, Between the Crosses  for the Jermyn Street Theatre and The Sneeze and After the Dance for Oxford Stage Company.  His film credits include The Lady in the Van, Le Weekend, Valkyrie, The History Boys and Lawless.  His television credits include Count Arthur Strong, Parade’s End, Silk, The Hour, Burn Up, Horne and Corden, Imagine Van Gogh, Silent Witness, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Maxwell, As If, Wire in the Blood and Foyle’s War.

Noma Dumezweni is currently playing the title role in Linda at the Royal Court Theatre for which she received outstanding reviews.  Her other theatre credits include A Raisin In The Sun for the Young Vic at the Lyric Hammersmith, for which she was the recipient of the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role, Feast and Belong also for the Royal Court, A Human Being Died That Night at the Hampstead Theatre, The Fugard and The Market theatres in South Africa and Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY, Carmen Disruption for the Almeida Theatre, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore for Shakespeare’s Globe, Henry V at the Noël Coward Theatre, President of an Empty Room and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other for the National Theatre, Macbeth, Breakfast With Mugabe, The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Bogus Woman for The Red Room, Traverse and Bush theatres. Her film credits include The Incident, Dirty Pretty Things and Macbeth.   Her many television credits include Casualty, Capital, Frankie, Dr Who, Summerhill, EastEnders and Fallout.  Dumezweni will make her directing debut at the Royal Court Theatre in February with I See You by Mongiwekhaya.

Paul Thornley played the role of Dodge in London Road at the National Theatre before going on to play the same character in the film version, both directed by Rufus Norris.  His other theatre credits include A Chorus of Disapproval at the Harold Pinter Theatre, The Three Musketeers for Kingston Theatre, It’s a Wonderful Life for the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, The Miracle for the National Theatre, Private Fears in Public Places at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, the Orange Tree in London and the 59E59 Theaters in New York, Noises Off at the National Theatre, Piccadilly and Comedy Theatres, Spend, Spend, Spend for West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Piccadilly Theatre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Tempest, Kiss Me Kate all for the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. On television his credits include three series of Life Begins for Granada where he played opposite Caroline Quentin, Father Brown, Doc Martin, Just William, Mutual Friends, Trollied, Big Bad World and Above Suspicion.   As well as London Road, Thornley’s film credits include Man Up, Metamorphosis, The Somnambulists, Les Miserables, Camera Trap and, most recently, Grimsby, the new Sacha Baron Cohen film.  Thornley is currently filming The Crown for Netflix and will also appear in the as yet untitled forthcoming James Marsh film.

Previews begin 7 June 2016 with the Opening performances of Part One and Part Two on Saturday 30 July 2016. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently booking to 27 May 2017.

In addition four special preview performances are planned for the end of May 2016 – details of where and how to obtain these tickets will be announced at a later date.  Details of how to purchase late release and lottery tickets for all performances will be announced at another time.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be directed by John Tiffany with movement by Steven Hoggett, set designs by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, special effects by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Jamie Harrison and music supervision by Martin Lowe.

Running times for Part One and Part Two will be announced at a later date.

What do you think of this casting news? Do you plan to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?

Jessica J.

I've been making magic at MuggleNet since 2012, when I first joined the staff as a News intern. I've never wavered from the declaration in my childhood journal, circa October 2000: "I LOVE Harry Potter! If I clean my room, my mom says she'll make me a dinner a wizard would love!" Proud Gryffindor; don't hate.

32 Responses

  1. Augustus says:
    December 20, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    You’re kidding me with the actress playing Hermione, right? Why would they cast someone that looks absolutely nothing like Hermione? Bizarre.

    • SB says:
      December 20, 2015 at 6:05 pm

      No red hair on Ron either…

    • Moxie says:
      December 20, 2015 at 6:56 pm

      If you can imagine wizards and hippogriffs but can’t handle an interpretation of Hermione as a person of color, you’re racist. Her skin color is NEVER mentioned in the books. Anyone can be smart, anyone can have bushy hair, and anyone with half a brain can see you for the bigot you are.

      • JohnHousecat says:
        December 20, 2015 at 7:22 pm

        Yup, we’re RACIST!!11 because the SJWs have taken over the damned fandom because they cannot and refuse to recognize Rowling’s default (which is white), and now Rowling’s feeding/letting it be fed because she doesn’t want to be labelled a racist either (even though she knows damned well that she drew and wrote Hermione as white).

        Every time there was a character of color in her books, she described them as such. There are POCs in her books, but they’re freaking tokens, stuck in there to prop up the white heroes (both Dean and Cho, used and dumped for the whiter & brighter). That’s just how the books were/are, and Rowling is forever tripping over herself in this climate of social justice in order to try and fix what she did instead of putting her foot down and owning her creation.

        But the only bigots I see running around are the SJWs who are SO focused on identity politics that they cannot comprehend what such identity politics does to a group of people. It keeps their emotional growth and intellectual reasoning stagnated within in the idealism of pre-adolescence.

        • Lisa says:
          December 21, 2015 at 10:23 am

          Just out of curiosity what’s SJW? And what group of people are hurt by identity politics?

          • Kelly says:
            December 21, 2015 at 6:18 pm

            Social justice Warrior. That’s what SJW means.

          • Iain Walker says:
            December 25, 2015 at 8:40 am

            “SJW” = “Social Justice Warrior”. A term used mainly as a buzzword on the political right as an alternative to intelligent debate, but reappropriated ironically by some on the left.

      • Augustus says:
        December 20, 2015 at 8:00 pm

        Wow. Name calling. I just thought it odd is all, no need to get judgemental. Maybe take a deep breath and think about things before getting so aggressive. I’m sure she’s brilliant, I just pictured an Emma Watson type is all.

      • Laura says:
        December 21, 2015 at 9:32 am

        Actually, it is. She is described as having a “white face” in Prisoner of Azkaban. Her mother is also specifically described as white, making her likely white as well. Rowling HERSELF sketched Hermione as WHITE. Just because she says she likes this casting doesn’t mean it’s all of a sudden canon. Insisting on accurate portrayals of characters isn’t bigoted. No one has a problem with blacks being cast as black — and heck, I’d imagine these same people would have been quite annoyed to see Kingsley Shacklebolt cast as white. Hermione has a certain look, and this simply isn’t it.

  2. Kelly says:
    December 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    Did they even try with casting any of them? I understand it’s different for plays and musicals, but wow.

    • JohnHousecat says:
      December 20, 2015 at 7:07 pm

      SHHHHHH…question the casting at all and you’ll earn the title “RAAAAAACISSSST!!11” from all the SJWs applauding the casting.

      • Kelly says:
        December 21, 2015 at 6:15 pm

        Ah, yes, you can’t not (sorry for the double negative) like the casting of someone if they are a minority. Trust me on this, it’s not racism, the casting directors are just stupid.

  3. Domo.A.Gogo says:
    December 20, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    time to watch the internet burn

  4. Charon Atchison says:
    December 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    So excited for the actress playing Hermione being a POC! Fantastic!

  5. Austin says:
    December 20, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    I had way more of an initial problem with Harry having red hair and Ron not than Hermione being a POC! That would have been weird haha. With hair dye, I think these are awesome choices.

  6. Sarah Jane Neeley says:
    December 21, 2015 at 1:20 am

    such political correctness marxist bullshit. diversity is code for white genocide. ridiculous.

    • Alex Andrés says:
      December 21, 2015 at 8:56 am

      avoid saying genocide. just point out the anti-white agenda. I find that its much more effective. I know, i know, i agree with you, but do we want to stop this or not? Adopt the most effective tactics and abandon the ones that dont have as much of an impact.

      • Lisa says:
        December 21, 2015 at 10:19 am

        Anti-white agenda? Again, seriously? Persons of colour actually exist, you know? It’s not anyone’s agenda, it’s a fact. It’s funny that you enjoy a series with an anti-discrimination and pro-tolerance message and make white supremacist comments on its fan website.

    • Lisa says:
      December 21, 2015 at 10:16 am

      Are you serious? One character of colour out of three is white genocide? Do you know what genocide means?

    • Sarah Jane Neeley says:
      December 22, 2015 at 2:26 am

      make more sense now?

  7. azrael407 says:
    December 21, 2015 at 2:12 am

    Not a SINGLE ONE of the actors look like what their supposed to. At least the movies tried-and yes, all the main characters were described in the book and on the ORIGINAL art covers. I STILL have a HUGE issue with the fact that they did not make harry’s eyes green-seriously how hard is it to get contacts O_o. I for one am not even happy with the original ending of the books (seriously?! Ginny?!) sooooooo yeah…not paying ANY attention to this catastrophe.

    • tamara says:
      December 21, 2015 at 2:17 am

      They did try giving Dan green contacts, but he had an allergic reaction so they had to give that up. You can see in the first movie.

    • Iain Walker says:
      December 25, 2015 at 8:37 am

      Because your suspension of disbelief is more important than an 11-year old boy having to wear contact lenses that cause him discomfort? Really?

  8. RavenPaw says:
    December 21, 2015 at 2:31 am

    Plot twist: Harry is actually ginger

  9. Alex Andrés says:
    December 21, 2015 at 8:55 am

    Diversity is code for anti-white.

  10. PotterHead7 says:
    December 22, 2015 at 6:53 am

    @RavenPaw Would that work? I’m not quite sure if that’s an acceptable headcanon/plot twist xD

  11. Iain Walker says:
    December 25, 2015 at 8:47 am

    “This is Noma Dumezweni,” said Dumbledore happily to a thunderstruck Umbridge, ” I think you’ll find her suitable.”

  12. Issy Blackthorn says:
    December 30, 2015 at 4:45 am

    I thought the Harry Potter fandom was an accepting place, open to change. Either everyone needs to re-evaluate their priorities, or our fandom is not the nicest thing to be a part of.

    • Iain Walker says:
      December 30, 2015 at 9:34 am

      Pick a fandom. Any fandom. You’ll almost certainly find the same dark corners, the same narrow-mindedness and sense of entitlement is a sub-section of fans. The biggest irony is that all this froth is over the casting of Hermione, whom Rowling consistently writes as the sort of person who, in the real world, would be entirely happy with it.