Cliff Notes – All the celebrities who refuse to touch Harry Potter TV reboot
- Daniel Radcliffe, who portrayed Harry Potter in the original films, has distanced himself from the new series, citing a desire for a “clean break” and expressing sadness over his public disagreements with J.K. Rowling regarding transgender rights.
- Nicola Coughlan publicly rejected any involvement in the series, criticising Rowling’s response to recent legal rulings on trans rights and stating, “Wouldn’t touch it with a 10ft pole.”
- Bowen Yang and Jared Harris have also ruled themselves out, with Yang expressing strong disapproval of Rowling’s views and Harris questioning the necessity of a new adaptation, given the success of the original films.
All the celebrities who ‘refuse to touch’ Harry Potter TV reboot
The upcoming Harry Potter series is bound to be one of the TV events of the decade – but several famous faces have already turned it down.
Set for release in 2027, the Harry Potter series is planning to adapt all seven of JK Rowling’s children’s fantasy books into seven full seasons.
Principal cast members have been announced – including John Lithgow as headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall.
However, the series already has its detractors due to its heavy association with Rowling and her support for causes deemed to be bigoted and transphobic.
As a result of the ongoing culture war surrounding trans rights, which reached a flashpoint this week after a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in the Equality Act, many actors immediately distanced themselves from the project.
Here are just some of the faces you won’t be seeing when the Philosopher’s Stone series finally comes to screens.
Daniel Radcliffe
In 2024, Daniel Radcliffe poured the coldest water possible onto rumours that he might be returning to the Wizarding World for the Harry Potter TV show.
The 35-year-old actor played Harry in all eight of the blockbuster films between 2001 and 2011 but has publicly clashed with JK Rowling on several occasions over the matter of transgender rights.
After insisting that she’s unlikely to ever forgive the Swiss Army Man and Horns actor after his years of vocal advocacy for transgender rights in the UK, the author also accused him of ‘cosying up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights’.
‘[He] is cosying up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and cheering on the transitioning of minors’, adding that he should ‘save [his] apologies’.
In response, Radcliffe replied: ‘It makes me really sad, ultimately. I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is, to me, so deeply empathic.’
And even away from the issue of Rowling, Daniel has reiterated that he won’t be having anything to do with the series, which will be overseen by TV director Mark Mylod.
When asked if he would be involved with the production, he told E! News: ‘I don’t think so; I think they very wisely want to [get] a clean break.’
He added: ‘I don’t know if it would work to have me, Emma Watson (Hermione), or Rupert Grint (Ron) do anything in it.’
Nicola Coughlan
Nicola Coughlan is unlikely to be showing up in anything Harry Potter-related, never mind the series, after comments she made this week.
The Derry Girls actor, 38, has been in numerous fan-casting hopes for the upcoming series, especially after her performance as Penelope in Netflix series Bridgerton.
But those hopes were dashed in a very spectacular (and public) fashion when Nicola took to social media to criticise Rowling directly and distance herself from Harry Potter.
On Instagram, she said Rowling’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling was a ‘new low’ for the author, adding: ‘Keep your new Harry Potter, lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a 10ft pole.’
As well as making those comments, Nicola has raised £100,000 for the trans charity Not A Phase after promising to match any donation that reached £10,000.
She said: ‘I’m completely horrified by the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday about trans people and to see an already marginalised community being further attacked, and attacked in law, is really stomach churning.’
Bowen Yang
Bowen Yang is a star of Saturday Night Live and was recently featured alongside Ariana Grande in the film adaptation of fantasy musical Wicked.
But don’t count on him appearing in the upcoming Harry Potter series, with the 34-year-old Australian-American actor ruling himself out with a strongly worded statement.
Taking to social media after the Supreme Court ruling, Bowen provided a blanket statement that summed up his feelings on the verdict: ‘A big f**k you to JK Rowling’.
Rowling responded to the ruling by posting a photograph of herself smoking a cigar and drinking a glass of wine, captioning the image: ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.
Bowen, who is gay, has previously reflected on his experiences of undergoing conversion therapy sessions as a teenager after his parents found out about his sexuality.
‘I kind of played along – I humoured them, and I humoured myself – into seeing what it was. Not knowing that it was ultimately very painful and detrimental. And there was a lot of healing that happened after that.’
Jared Harris
Jared Harris ruled himself out of appearing in the upcoming TV adaptation of the Harry Potter series in September 2024, not long after it was announced.
The British actor, 63, star of TV shows such as The Crown, Mad Men, and Chernobyl, is the son of original Albus Dumbledore actor Richard Harris.
Harris, who died in 2002 aged 72, played the headmaster of Hogwarts School in the first two Harry Potter films, The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets.
Jared was asked last year if he was interested in stepping into his father’s shoes, but his answer was pretty definitive: ‘No, thank you.’
Speaking to The Independent, he also questioned the reasons behind the creation of the prospective series: ‘Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic—leave them alone.’