The Wizarding World has continued expanding long after the original Harry Potter movies came to an end, and several familiar actors have followed it into its newest projects.
Take Hogwarts Legacy, for example. The 2023 video game introduced an entirely new story set long before Harry Potter was born, but fans could still recognize Luke Youngblood, who voiced Ravenclaw student Everett Clopton after playing Lee Jordan in the first two films.
Simon Pegg also joined the game as former Hogwarts headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black.
The actors have continued turning up elsewhere, too.
Youngblood later reprised Lee Jordan in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, while Pegg also voices Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions. Bill Nighy returned to the Wizarding World, this time voicing Professor Horace Slughorn rather than playing Rufus Scrimgeour from the films.
The Fantastic Beasts films were the first to bring back familiar faces. Jamie Campbell Bower reprised his role as young Gellert Grindelwald after first appearing in Deathly Hallows – Part 1, while Hebe Beardsall returned as Ariana Dumbledore in The Secrets of Dumbledore.
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The stage hasn’t been left out, either.
Tom Felton recently returned as Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, and Rupert Grint is now set to reprise Ron Weasley in the production next year.
Universal hasn’t been left out, either. Last year, Imelda Staunton officially reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge for the Universal Epic Universe attraction Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.
Even the new HBO series has its own veteran actor, with Warwick Davis returning as Professor Filius Flitwick, making him the first original movie actor to reprise the same role in the television adaptation (for now at least). Meanwhile, Arabella Stanton, who voices Hermione Granger in the full-cast audio series, is also playing the character in the HBO reimagining.
Similarly, Kit Harington provides another connection between these two projects, having voiced Gilderoy Lockhart in the audio editions before being recently cast as the character for Season 2 of HBO’s series.
HBO’s Harry Potter premieres on Christmas Day, with the first season adapting Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Which of these returning actors surprised you the most? And who else would you like to see return to the Wizarding World? Let us know in the comments below!
