Role Call: The Doctor is In … AGAIN.

Welcome to MuggleNet’s weekly Casting News column, where we explore all the happenings with the cast and crew of the Potter films! This week, we get the inside scoop on what it feels like to play a spy, find out that Sirius Black is really a vampire, and celebrate with the Tenth Doctor as he becomes a Doctor again! All that and more in MuggleNet’s Role Call!

David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr.) is winning it all this week. It was announced late this week that he would be the recipient of an honorary degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, an Honorary Doctor of Drama. Upon the reveal that Tennant would receive the degree, Professor Jeffrey Sharkey had this to day about Tennant:

An actor of international stature, David Tennant is one of the country’s most versatile actors performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Richard II’ on stages in both the UK and in the USA, he was the world’s tenth ‘Doctor Who’, stars in the hugely popular ‘Broadchurch’ series and is the comic book villain in Marvel’s ‘Jessica Jones’ series.

Tennant is set to receive his honorary doctorate this July during commencement ceremonies at RCS.

Additionally, the actor is also being further recognized for his work on the Netflix series Jessica Jones with a nomination for a Hugo Award, which was announced April 26. The season finale of the series, “AKA Smile,” was nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short), and winners will be announced August 20 at the MidAmeriCon II Convention. Congrats to David and the entire cast and crew of Jessica Jones!

A few other works featuring a Potter cast member were also shortlisted for a Hugo Award: Ex Machina and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, both starring Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley). For the full list of finalists, check out the website here.

According to the Oxford Times, Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) is slated to appear at the Oxford Union’s Frewin Court to talk to students about his career, though the date has not yet been posted. The event will be open to the public, but anyone who is not a Union member must be accompanied by one. Other speakers will appear throughout the term and we assume that once a date has been nailed down, Gambon’s name will also be added to the list.

This week, Dame Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) joined the throngs of Shakespeare fans celebrating the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death. Appearing at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, the actress helped to open the summer exhibition “Shakespeare’s Dead.” The exhibition will run through September 18, and it:

…reveals the unique ways in which Shakespeare brings dying, death and the dead to life. Highlights from the Bodleian’s collections, such as a copy of the First Folio and some of the earliest printed editions of the Bard’s works, are displayed alongside contemporary interpretations including an animated film created from schoolchildren’s drawings and a tryptic by contemporary artist Tom de Freston.

You can learn more about the exhibition here.

In addition to helping to open the exhibition, Smith was honored by the Chancellor of the University, Lord Patten of Barnes, who presented Smith with the Bodley Medal. The medal, which is the library’s highest honor, was presented in honor of her contribution to the performing arts. Said Bodley’s Librarian Richard Ovendon,

Dame Maggie Smith is one of the most acclaimed and respected actors of her generation and has won many awards. The Bodleian is delighted to present her with another – the Bodley Medal. As someone who grew up in Oxford and acted with Oxford University Dramatic Society before going on to her stellar international career, we wish to recognise her outstanding contribution to the performing arts.

Smith also gave a brief speech upon receiving her award, saying,

I feel very honoured to be awarded the Bodley Medal and to join such a distinguished list of previous recipients. It also a great privilege to open this unique exhibition marking the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

To see photos from the award presentation, click here.

Sometimes, be it very rarely, we miss seeing Aunt Petunia. Luckily, the actress who so wonderfully (awfully?) brought her to life on the big screen has a healthy career, so we get to see her quite often! Fiona Shaw’s (Petunia Dursley) latest project, The White King, was recently picked up by Fortissimo Films, according to Variety. Footage from the film will begin to screen at Cannes, as the company anticipates a launch at a popular film festival. Nicole Mackey, who aided in the acquisition of the film for Fortissimo, gave us a hint at the movie’s premise, saying,

‘The White King’ depicts a society and a way of life that is all the more unsettling in this current period of global uncertainty. This film will be understood by all as a metaphor for the concerns that we should all have for the leaders we pick and the world our children will inherit.

Last month, MuggleNet attended Emerald City Comic Con, met up with James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), and got to attend some really great panels. One of those we happened to attend was with actor Nathan Fillion from ABC’s Castle. During his panel, he revealed that he was working on a crowd-funded vampire documentary with Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), called The Undead.

Recently revealed is that the documentary has now been changed into a series! Dread Central reported the change this week, featuring an interview with the creator and director, actress Juliet Landau. Landau, perhaps more familiar to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as vampire Drusilla, announced the format change, which will include interviews with vampire film and television stars like Gary Oldman, who portrayed the seductive Dracula in 1992. Oldman also lent the director his 1853 tintype camera for the series.

Finally, Jim Broadbent’s (Horace Slughorn) thriller London Spy will be released on DVD in the UK tomorrow, May 2! Broadbent sat down with Female First and answered a few questions about the series and the character he plays:

The central character is Danny, who falls in love with a young man, and this is clearly the love of his life. And quite early on this young man dies under mysterious circumstances, and the arc of the five-part series is the implications and ramifications of that on Danny’s life. I play Scottie, who’s an old friend of Danny’s, and Scottie has had some experience in the secret services, and he is able to help Danny in his quest to sort out the after effects of this murder.

Regarding the script, we learn a little more about the actor’s taste in drama:

Getting the script was a treat. I knew Tom Rob Smith’s writing anywhere; I’d read his three Russian spy novels or secret service-KGB novels before, long before the script came my way, so I knew I was in for a good thriller, really, and it’s absolutely proved true. It’s a really good read, so I’d leapt through the five episodes very quickly, and I always love a good, strong thriller narrative myself anyway, so that was great to be part of that.

That’s all for this week’s edition of Casting News! Check back in with us next week as we explore the various projects our favorite Potter cast will soon be tackling!