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Kit Harington will replace Nicholas Hoult in HBO’s Harry Potter television series, after the Skins actor left the production because of scheduling conflicts.
Harington will play Gilderoy Lockhart, the vain and inept defence against the dark arts teacher, in the season based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second novel in JK Rowling’s series. The casting change was announced just two weeks after Hoult was confirmed for the role.
Hoult, who played Lex Luthor in the recent Superman film, was released from the Harry Potter production after its filming schedule conflicted with his other commitments.
Harington is best known for playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, as well as a more recent appearance in the BBC/HBO drama Industry.
The actor voiced Lockhart in Audible’s full-cast adaptation of The Chamber of Secrets, released in 2025. He said recently that he was a longstanding Harry Potter fan and described Lockhart as one of his favourite characters.
“I’m thrilled,” Harington told Collider. “I’ve said a million times, for anyone who cares, that I’m a huge Potter fan.
“I’ve got to be honest, he’s one of my favourite characters. So, to be offered to play him is a real dream. I think he’s going to be so fun. I got to play him in the audiobooks. That’s not the exact way I’ll play him in the show because it’s an audiobook, but I’ve had a taste of him and felt my way around him. He’s just a wonderful creation.”
Lockhart is a celebrity wizard and prolific author whose reputation is built on supposedly heroic exploits that, it emerges, were largely the work of other witches and wizards. He was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film adaptation.
The HBO series is intended to retell Rowling’s seven-book story over multiple seasons, with each season expected to be based on a different novel. The first season, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is due to premiere on 25 December. Production on the second season is scheduled to begin this autumn.
The series stars Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. John Lithgow plays Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost plays Rubeus Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu plays Severus Snape.
Harington’s appointment is the latest change to the cast. Gracie Cochrane, who plays Ginny Weasley in the first season, is also leaving the series and will be replaced for its second season.
Hoult, along with other cast members, has faced some backlash for his decision to join the show from those opposed to Rowling’s views on sex and gender.
