As development on the Harry Potter TV show continues, more rumored castings pop up everywhere, and a recent one regarding Hagrid shows how the series can capitalize on star power, even though it’s also a risky move. The world of Harry Potter continued living after the saga’s end with the trilogy Fantastic Beasts, which couldn’t match the success and popularity of the main saga. The story of The Boy Who Lived is now getting a new adaptation but as a TV series, set to be released on Max.

The Harry Potter TV remake was first reported in 2021 but wasn’t confirmed to be in development until April 2023. At the time of writing, the Harry Potter TV series is in the process of finding its cast, and while thousands of kids and young actors are auditioning to play the main trio, well-known names are being rumored to play the older characters. As some big names are circling the roles of Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall, the one rumored for Hagrid shows that the series can capitalize on star power, but this is also quite risky for this project.

The Harry Potter Remake's Rumored Hagrid Casting Could Use Star Power To Its Advantage

The Harry Potter TV Series Might Have A Big Star As Hagrid

The actor rumored to be playing Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter TV series is none other than Brett Goldstein. Goldstein is best known for his role as Roy Kent in Apple TV+’s comedy-drama TV series Ted Lasso, of which he’s also a writer and executive producer. Goldstein is currently part of the cast of the comedy-drama Shrinking, which he co-created with Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel, and he also serves as a writer and executive producer. On top of that, Goldstein is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hercules.

The Harry Potter TV remake, as exciting as it is, is facing a couple of challenges. The Harry Potter movies are so loved and popular that the TV remake is facing being compared in everything, even if it ends up making a better adaptation than the films. The TV series can greatly benefit from having well-known, currently popular actors in big roles, mostly fan-favorites like Hagrid, as through them, it can draw more attention and pique the curiosity of old and new fans as well as those whose first approach to the Wizarding World will be the TV show.

Casting Big-Name Actors In The Harry Potter Show Is Riskier Than You'd Think

This Choice Can End Up Backfiring

While casting well-known and popular actors in the Harry Potter TV show can be beneficial, it’s also risky. The Harry Potter movies also had big-name actors in their cast, such as Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Thompson, and Kenneth Branagh, which helped them get wider attention from an older audience that wasn’t exactly the target audience of the books and movies. While they were already famous and had played some well-known characters, the Harry Potter universe gave them a new image in the eyes of a new audience.

Now, the problem with big names like Brett Goldstein is that they’re already heavily associated with other also popular characters, as happens with Goldstein and his Ted Lasso character, Roy, even to those not familiar with the TV show. To the superhero audience, Goldstein is now Hercules, a character briefly teased at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder and who they’re waiting to see when and where he will appear next.

To many, seeing Goldstein’s Hagrid might be like watching Roy as a friendly half-giant.

These other roles can end up taking viewers out of the story of the Harry Potter TV series and thus distracting them from their Wizarding World characters and their role in the show. To many, seeing Goldstein’s Hagrid might be like watching Roy as a friendly half-giant, Rachel Weisz’s Professor McGonagall will take some viewers back to The Mummy, and Mark Strong’s Dumbledore can take the audience back to Kingsman’s Merlin in a different context.

Of course, these and the rest of the rumored actors for the Harry Potter TV show so far are talented enough to give their characters the uniqueness they deserve and separate all their roles in their careers, but their images are already linked to other big and famous roles.

At the time of writing, Goldstein, Weisz, and Strong are only rumored to be ing the cast of Harry Potter. None of them have been confirmed.

Brett Goldstein As Hagrid Could Still Work, But Only If It's Handled Carefully

There Are A Couple Of Things The Series Has To Do To Make This Hagrid Work

Even with the risks that come with casting big names in the Harry Potter TV show, Brett Goldstein would still be a great Hagrid, but it has to be handled correctly. The Harry Potter TV show has to avoid being obvious in showing its most famous actors as it can end up backfiring, either by having them take all the attention or the above-mentioned problem of the audience immediately associating them with their past roles.

An advantage in casting Goldstein is that he doesn’t look like Hagrid, so he should be barely recognizable when the time comes, allowing the audience to detach from his image and past roles and fully focus on his version of the beloved Hogwarts groundskeeper.

The Harry Potter TV show has to be smart in its casting choices and writing.

Of course, the writing, acting, and how the books are adapted will also be key to Goldstein’s Hagrid’s success, because, thankfully, his acting skills aren’t a concern at all. The Harry Potter TV show has to be smart in its casting choices and writing, as combined can be the key to its success.