Kit Harington Joins ‘Harry Potter’ Season 2 as Gilderoy Lockhart, Replacing Nicholas Hoult
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- Kit Harington will play Gilderoy Lockhart in HBO's "Harry Potter" Season 2, replacing Nicholas Hoult, who departed the production due to scheduling conflicts.
- Lockhart — the famous, arrogant wizard who becomes Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in "Chamber of Secrets" — was originally played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film.
- Harington already voiced Lockhart in Audible's "Harry Potter" audiobooks late last year, telling Variety he fell in love with J.K. Rowling's books as a kid and that taking the role was a "no-brainer."
- Season 2 is based on "Chamber of Secrets" and is set to begin shooting this fall, with Season 1 premiering Christmas Day on HBO and HBO Max.
- Dominic McLaughlin leads the cast as Harry Potter, joined by Arabella Stanton as Hermione, Alastout Stout as Ron Weasley, John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, and Nick Frost as Hagrid.
- Jon Brown, a Season 1 writer, has been promoted to co-showrunner for Season 2 alongside Francesca Gardiner, with Rowling, Mark Mylod, and others serving as executive producers.
Why it matters: HBO secures a seamless Lockhart: Harington had already been voicing the character for Audible and publicly gushed about the books, so the swap avoids a public audition scramble while Season 2 enters production this fall — just weeks before Season 1 debuts Christmas Day.
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