HBO Max’s Harry Potter reboot may have found its actor for Professor Severus Snape, Paapa Essiedu.
Essiedu boasts experience on stage and screen, making him a promising candidate for the role.

In striving for a diverse cast, HBO could be honoring Alan Rickman’s original Snape portrayal while introducing unique nuances.

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While the Harry Potter HBO Max reboot is still years away from hitting the streaming service, it looks like the show is starting to accelerate its casting. The main children who will play Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasely are still entirely a mystery but it looks like the show has found one of the most important antagonists turned protagonists in the man who could play Professor Severus Snape.

In the Harry Potter universe, the character was one of the more complex of the entire cast on the big screen. For most of the movie series, he appeared to be someone who only had it out for Harry especially because of his love for Harry’s mother, who wanted nothing to do with Severus. However, as the series goes on, it becomes clear that he’s anointed himself a protector of Harry, even if he has to do it secretly and out of the public view.

Harry Potter Reboot Circling Its Severus Snape

Alan Rickman brought the Severus Snape character to life on the big screen of course, but sadly he wouldn’t be able to reprise the role if that was even an option as he passed away in 2016. So the Harry Potter series is on the lookout for a new actor to play the Hogwarts professor and it looks like the streaming series has landed on the actor who will give him his rebooted look and feel. The Hollywood Reporter claims that the show is circling British actor Paapa Essiedu for the role of Snape.

Essiedu has experience both on stage and screen as he started his career playing Hamlet and King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company. On the big screen, he’s taken on roles in Murder on the Orient Express and Men. On televison, the actor has appeared in the time traveling science fiction action adventure series The Lazarus Project and appeared in the Black Mirror episode “Demon 79.”

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While HBO hasn’t officially announced any of the casting for the new Harry Potter series, there have been rumblings that in addition to circling Essiedu for Snape, it is also in talks with Mark Rylance for the role of Dumbledore. There has also been quite a bit of talk in recent days about who should play the main villain in the show. Ralph Fiennes played Voldemort in the original film series, and it’s expected the character will have a similar presence in the streaming reboot. Fiennes has gone on record saying he believes that Cillian Murphy would do a good job if he were asked to step in and take over the part of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

If Essiedu does eventually get officially cast in the Severus Snape role, it will also be an example of HBO following through on its promise that the series would have a diverse cast. While some fans of the original movies and book series will voice displeasure at an aim of diversity, it’s important to note that with someone like the great Alan Rickman having passed away, the show’s character might be better accepted if it went in a different direction, rather than trying to emulate the original actor.

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The Harry Potter series is expected to launch sometime in 2027.