Game of Thrones star Kit Harington joins Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has joined HBO's Harry Potter television series as Gilderoy Lockhart, with the network confirming the casting to the BBC. He replaces Nicholas Hoult, who will no longer appear in the role in Season 2 because of a scheduling conflict.Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, also appears in the BBC and HBO drama Industry. The role marks his third collaboration with HBO. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first season of the new adaptation of JK Rowling's books, is due to premiere on HBO Max during Christmas this year, while Season 2 will adapt Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts.The casting change was announced in a story post on the official Harry Potter Instagram account, which said: "Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule: Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart."The series stars newcomer Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. Jon Lithgow has been cast as Albus Dumbledore and Nick Frost will play Rubeus Hagrid. Harington already has some connection to the character. Last year, he voiced Lockhart in Audible's Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions. The new series could also reunite him with director and producer Mark Mylod, who worked on Game of Thrones and is directing some episodes of Harry Potter. Mylod is also an executive producer on the series alongside Rowling.Lockhart was played by Kenneth Branagh in the Warner Bros films and is a major character in Chamber of Secrets, the second book in Rowling's series. In the story, he is a vain wizard who has written books about his supposed encounters with dark creatures. He becomes Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and sees himself as a mentor to Harry during his second year. Hoult, whose credits include X-Men, Superman and Mad Max: Fury Road, had been announced in the role earlier this month. Deadline, which first reported Harington's casting, said HBO had to release Hoult from his deal because his commitments to other projects clashed with a change in the show's production schedule. HBO confirmed that reporting to the BBC. Representatives for both Harington and Hoult did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The HBO series is expected to run for 10 years, with producers planning multiple seasons to cover each of Rowling's seven books, which were previously adapted into eight blockbuster films. With Harington now stepping in as Lockhart, the second season has made one of its biggest casting changes before production begins.- EndsPublished By: shweta keshriPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 08:59 IST