Kit Harington Cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in HBO's Harry Potter Season Two

Kit Harington will play Gilderoy Lockhart in season two of HBO's Harry Potter series, stepping into a role previously held by Nicholas Hoult. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the casting on 24 August 2026, with Deadline first reporting the news.

Hoult had been cast as the vain Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but dropped out over scheduling conflicts while filming the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Harington now takes over the part — a character last played on screen by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The role is not entirely new to Harington. He previously voiced Lockhart in the Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Edition of The Chamber of Secrets. The actor, who rose to fame as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, has described himself as a self-proclaimed "Harry Potter nerd" who fell in love with J.K. Rowling's books as a child and has reread them many times, Variety reported. He said agreeing to voice Lockhart in the audiobooks was "a really simple yes" because he loves the character.

HBO renewed the Harry Potter series for a second season early, in May, before the first season has even aired. Season one, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is set to premiere on 25 December. Season two adapts the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and is expected to shoot in the autumn.

Behind the scenes, Jon Brown has been promoted from a writer on season one to co-showrunner alongside Francesca Gardiner. Warner Bros. Television produces the series, with executive producers including Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films. Mark Mylod serves as director and executive producer.

The cast features Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. John Lithgow plays Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer plays Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu plays Severus Snape, and Nick Frost is cast as Rubeus Hagrid.

For fans of the books, Lockhart is one of the most memorable comic characters in the series — a celebrity author who claims credit for heroic deeds he never performed and takes the Defence Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts to disastrous effect. Branagh's performance in the 2002 film set a high bar for the character's screen presence. Harington's background with the role through the audio edition, combined with his stated affection for the books, gives the casting a natural through-line from voice work to on-screen performance.