HBO’s Harry Potter Series Just Found a Perfect Dumbledore

HBO’s Harry Potter TV remake is finally rounding out its cast, and this one is a major flex. Previously played by Michael Gambon and Richard Harris in the eight-part movie franchise, Dumbledore will once again play an important part in mentoring Potter and leading the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. HBO’s small screen adaptation of Harry Potter is eying the Oscar-winning actor from Bridge of Spies, Mark Rylance, for the coveted role.

According to Variety, HBO is eyeing Mark Rylance to play Dumbledore, and is now “gauging interest” in the actor to see if a deal can be made. Apparently, no formal offer has been made, but the network sees him as their first choice for the iconic character. The series will be closely adapting the acclaimed, record-breaking novels with each season, making Rylance’s potential role a long-term agreement if done. The network remained mum on confirming the news, but did not outright deny it either. A statement provided to Variety:

“We appreciate that such a high profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation. As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”

The upcoming TV reboot of Harry Potter is currently on a worldwide search to cast its main trio, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasely. It’s unclear who else is on their radar for other major roles in the new saga, including fan-favorite Professor Snape, but it seems HBO is moving fast to get the production started sooner rather than later. If Rylance were to join, it means the network is aiming high for its supporting roles, despite the iconic nature of previous incarnations.

HBO’s Harry Potter TV Show is Gaining Momentum

The reboot nobody asked for, HBO’s Harry Potter has a long way to go to convince audiences it’s a worthy retelling of the long-standing franchise. With the Fantastic Beasts films seemingly put to bed, and young Dumbledore actor Jude Law confirming as such, the next time Harry Potter fans will be revisiting the world they fell in love with over two decades ago will feature entirely new faces. From J.K. Rowling’s questionable role in producing the series to the inevitable comparisons that will be made with the movies, it’s hard to say another franchise will be making a riskier leap forward (or backward) than Harry Potter. That said, HBO has been recruiting top talent to handle the ambitious project, including showrunner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, Killing Eve, His Dark Materials).

After winning the Academy Award for Supporting Actor in Steve Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, Rylance has been in a number of acclaimed works. Shortly after his Oscar win, he went on to star in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. In 2022, the actor received praise for his villainous cannibal role in Bones and All alongside Timothée Chalamet from director Luca Guadagnino. Rylance currently stars in the BBC series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, a historical drama following Thomas Cromwell. If he joins Harry Potter, that will be a long-term commitment that will likely tie him to the franchise for the next decade or so, albeit in a supporting role.