All posts tagged: Potter

The Assassin season 2 adds Harry Potter star as first look at new episodes revealed

The Assassin season 2 adds Harry Potter star as first look at new episodes revealed

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Assassin season 2 has expanded its cast, with Harry Potter and Game of Thrones star Natalia Tena among the new additions, while Prime Video has also treated fans to first-look images. The new season will see Keeley Hawes return to lead as Julie Green, the former assassin whose quiet life on an idyllic Greek island was derailed in season 1 when her estranged son Eddie (Freddie Highmore) arrived looking for answers around his paternity. Tena has joined the cast as Inspector Cortez, “a sharp Spanish detective whose emotional intelligence and steely ambition should not be underestimated”. The actress is best known for playing Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film series, as well as the wildling Osha in HBO series Game of Thrones. Other new cast members in season 2 include Arnaud Binard (Emily in Paris) as Bastien, “a charismatic Frenchman whose path crosses with Julie” (below), and Boris Van Severen (Baptiste) as Titus, “a desperate and conflicted Belgian man driven by resentment and loss”. Arnaud Binard as Bastien in The Assassin season 2. Prime …

Ginny Weasley actor unexpectedly drops out of Harry Potter series

Ginny Weasley actor unexpectedly drops out of Harry Potter series

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The role of Ginny Weasley in HBO’s highly anticipated Harry Potter series will be recast after season one. Young actor Gracie Cochrane will star as the youngest Weasley in the debut season of the TV adaptation, premiering this Christmas. However, she will hand the reins to another actor for season two and beyond. “Due to unforeseen circumstances Gracie has made the challenging decision to step away from her role as Ginny Weasley in the HBO Harry Potter series after season one,” the actor’s family said in a statement, per Deadline. “Her time as part of the Harry Potter world has been truly wonderful, and she is deeply grateful to Lucy Bevan and the entire production team for creating such an unforgettable experience. Gracie is very excited about the opportunities her future holds.” HBO addressed the news in a following statement. “We …

Harry Potter art director reveals intricate set never seen on screen

Harry Potter art director reveals intricate set never seen on screen

Published by Daniella Wilson

While some superfans have seen the Harry Potter films time and time again, there are still some details even the most eagle-eyed viewers will have missed. That’s down to the level of detail from unsung heroes behind-the-scenes, like Art Director Gary Tomkins, who worked on all eight movies. Speaking exclusively to Radio Times to mark the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (and the new Summer Feature at the Warner Bros Studio Tour), Tomkins revealed that there are some intricate sets that he worked on that were never actually seen on screen, including Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur Weasley’s seaside home. “Shell Cottage, we built on the seashore in Pembrokeshire,” Tomkins recalled. “It was a full-sized house. We built some of the interior and the exterior, with a garden. The walls themselves were built with shells, and we had a sculptor model up all the shells so it would be made like a stone building, but instead of stone, it was shells. “All the shells had little, tiny barnacles on, a fantastic …

“Michael,” Harry Potter and the death of the problematic fave

“Michael,” Harry Potter and the death of the problematic fave

Published by Sam Flores

Recently, one of my best friends asked me if I’d seen “Michael,” Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic that Salon’s movie critic Coleman Spilde hailed as “so damn weird.” This person knows me better than nearly everyone else on the planet, so I quickly figured out that she didn’t really care whether I’d seen “Michael” or, if I had, what I thought about it. What she was looking for, without explicitly saying so, was a kind of permission I’m in no position to offer, nor would I want to be. I had not seen “Michael,” I told her, nor did I plan to, and I certainly wouldn’t think differently of her if she chose to do so. But, I added, regardless of what it did for her, it doesn’t change the weight of multiple claims of child sexual abuse that have been made against the star since his death in 2009. Art can have immutable significance to us regardless of what its creators are alleged to have done; thus, the supposed absolution offered by the notion …

Harry Potter and Doctor Who favourites to star in new Channel 4 thriller

Harry Potter and Doctor Who favourites to star in new Channel 4 thriller

Published by Daniella Wilson

Channel 4 has announced the cast for its new thriller Wrong Move, with Eve Myles, Rory Kinnear and David Thewlis among the stars announced. The series, which is a darkly comic thriller written and created by Coma’s Ben Edwards, follows three families in a property chain who find themselves at the mercy of a psychopath at the top of the chain. Channel 4 has said it is “packed with twists and turns” and delves into “the misguided notion that moving house can fix everything”. Harry Potter star Thewlis is set to star as Trevor, the dangerous psychopath, while James Bond actor Kinnear will star as homebuyer Michael, whose patience is tested when the chain begins to unravel, and Doctor Who and Torchwood star Myles will play Catherine, Michael’s wife. David Bradley (Game of Thrones) will also star as Arthur, Trevor’s father, while Austin Haynes (Adolescence) will appear as Michael and Catherine’s son, Jack, and Daisy Morgan (Giant) as their daughter. David Bradley will also star in Wrong Move. Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Eleanor Tomlinson (One Day) …

Grey’s Anatomy star responds to Harry Potter casting rumors

Grey’s Anatomy star responds to Harry Potter casting rumors

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Grey’s Anatomy star Kevin McKidd has addressed speculation that he has been cast to play Arthur Weasley in HBO’s highly anticipated Harry Potter TV series. Rumors about McKidd’s potential casting recently surfaced when eagle-eyed fans noticed that Gracie Cochrane, the young actor set to play Ginny Weasley in the forthcoming adaptation, started following the Scottish actor on Instagram. Asked about the growing online chatter in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, McKidd, 52, who on Thursday departed the long-running medical drama after 18 years as Dr. Owen Hunt, answered coyly. “I saw something about this,” he said. “And listen, I would never say never. I’m a massive Harry Potter fan.” He revealed that years ago, when he was starring in the short-lived sci-fi series Journeymen, Harry Potter director David Yates sent him a letter, offering him a role in the final …

Poldark and Harry Potter favourites star in first look at new drama

Poldark and Harry Potter favourites star in first look at new drama

Published by Daniella Wilson

5 has given fans a first look at new series The Fortune, starring Eleanor Tomlinson and Matthew Lewis. The series, which is yet to receive an official release date, has been billed as a “gripping psychological drama” about family and past secrets. Tomlinson (Poldark) stars as Amanda Blakefield, a woman who’s stunned to realise she’s been left an enormous inheritance by a man she has neither met nor heard of before. As Amanda becomes embroiled in the world of the mysterious Worrall family, she’s soon drawn further and further into past events and relationships – and all of their lives are turned upside down. Matthew Lewis as Jimmy Brent in The Fortune. 5 Lewis (Harry Potter) also stars as Amanda’s husband, Jimmy, while newcomer James Younger plays her son Luke, and Denis Lawson (New Tricks) appears as the Worrall patriarch, Martin. Denis Lawson as Martin Worrall in The Fortune. 5 Additional cast includes Rebecca Front (The Thick of It) as Martin’s wife Fiona, and Callum Woodhouse (All Creatures Great and Small) as his son Anthony. Stephen Tompkinson …

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It + Meredith Potter

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It + Meredith Potter

Published by Sam Flores

Don’t worry, ChatGPT told us to just trust the robots… In a shockingly short period of time, AI has gone from tech novelty to a part of our everyday lives. More industries are incorporating AI into daily workflow so that employees have more time for creative work – at least in theory. Roxy’s and Katelyn’s respective professions (journalism and book publishing) are still figuring out the ethical boundaries around AI. Meanwhile, we’ve all seen the dark side of these tools: deep fakes, chatbots encouraging users to harm themselves, and platforms overrun with AI slop. Do these tools portend a bright new age or civilizational collapse? We hash it out, with minimal help from the robots and a lot more help from a leader of a D.C. think tank helping to create policies that keep these powerful tools in their place. GUEST: Meredith Potter is executive director of the American Security Fund and the American Security Foundation, the latter of which works to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is understandable, controllable, responsible, ethical, and human-centered. She is …

Jeremy Vine on why he wants Harry Potter star to play new book hero

Jeremy Vine on why he wants Harry Potter star to play new book hero

Published by Daniella Wilson

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. “I remember exactly where I was,” says Jeremy Vine of his childhood introduction to the Queen of Crime. “I was having a Saturday morning lie-in and my mum came in. I was 11 years old. She said, ‘You might enjoy this,’ and handed me a copy of Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie.” His mother’s educated guess would turn out to be an understatement on a grand scale. “[The book has a] brilliant set-up. Millionaire brings his family to celebrate Christmas, tells them he’s changing his will but, before he can do that, he’s killed in an otherwise empty room and the only clue is a small piece of rubber. And that’s it. I was hooked.” Vine spent his teenage years devouring all 66 Christie detective stories and thrillers and so it’s hardly surprising that, with books about his professional life and a novel, The Diver and the Lover, already behind him, he was tempted to gravitate towards the genre he knows best. His first detective novel, …