Nicholas Hoult Cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in HBO's Harry Potter Season Two
Nicholas Hoult will play Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of HBO's Harry Potter series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline first reported the casting.
Lockhart is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who arrives at Hogwarts in Harry's second year. In the books, he is celebrated across the wizarding world for heroic deeds that turn out to be stolen — he took credit for other people's achievements after wiping parts of their memories with a spell. Kenneth Branagh played the role in the 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book in J.K. Rowling's series and the source material for season two of the show.
HBO handed the series an early season-two renewal in May, before a single episode had aired. Season one, officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is set to premiere on 25 December. Francesca Gardiner is showrunner for the first season; Jon Brown joins her as co-showrunner for season two.
The show's core cast already includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. John Lithgow plays Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu plays Severus Snape, Nick Frost is Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot plays Neville Longbottom and Lox Pratt is Draco Malfoy.
For Hoult, the role brings him back to a franchise he tried to join roughly two decades ago. TV Insider reported that the actor auditioned for the title role of Harry Potter in the original film series — the part that ultimately went to Daniel Radcliffe.
Hoult's career since then has spanned prestige drama and studio blockbusters. He played Hank McCoy in the recent X-Men films, starred as Emperor Peter III in the Hulu series The Great, and earned critical attention for his performance in the 2025 film The Order. His casting as Lockhart pairs a known leading man with a character audiences love to distrust.
For fans, Lockhart's arrival signals that season two will dig into one of the most fondly remembered entries in the series. The character's mix of vanity and deception has made him a favourite among readers since Chamber of Secrets was published in 1998 — and the new adaptation will have its own chance to bring him to life.
