How The New 'Harry Potter' Actors Look Compared To The Books

John Lithgow was the first confirmed actor for the Harry Potter TV series. The famously versatile performer, whose past roles include a serial killer on Dexter, an alien in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Winston Churchill in The Crown, was cast as Albus Dumbledore, the spectacle-wearing, silver-haired, bearded headmaster of Hogwarts. 

While some netizens think a younger, British actor would have been more appropriate, others agree he’s already “tall, thin, and very old,” with “light, bright, and sparkling” eyes. His eyes may be hazel and not blue like Dumbledore’s, but colored contact lenses could easily fix that, while a prosthetic artist would ensure his straight nose is “very long and crooked.” 

Cillian Murphy is an award-winning Irish actor particularly celebrated for his portrayal of Tommy Shelby in the period crime drama Peaky Blinders. His striking eyes, small nose, and chiseled cheekbones and jawline might steer him in the right direction as Lord Voldemort. 

In the books, Harry Potter’s snake-like nemesis is described as “whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes, and a nose that was as flat as a snake’s, with slits for nostrils.” Makeup, prosthetics, and red contact lenses would probably do the trick and turn Murphy into the scene-stealing, spectral villain.   

Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather, is supposed to be effortlessly handsome, tall and in his 30s, with “waxy white skin,” piercing gray eyes, and “long, dark hair.” 

For many years, fans have pulled for Ben Barnes, who portrayed Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia films and the Darkling in the Netflix series Shadow and Bone, to take a turn as Sirius. The English actor and singer is certainly up for this iconic role. He may have dark brown eyes and look slightly older than the character, but his features, height, and hair could work in his favor. 

Besides Janet McTeer, HBO is also apparently considering Rachel Weisz for the role of the stern, tall, thin-lipped, and black-haired Professor Minerva McGonagall. While the beloved The Mummy actress does indeed have dark hair, she’s younger and shorter than the role. What's more, she might be too conventionally attractive for Harry Potter purists.

Known for his portrayal of Roy Kent in the sports comedy series Ted Lasso, Brett Goldstein is a muscular British actor, writer, producer, and podcaster sporting thick, dark brown eyebrows and hair and a neat, well-defined beard.  

Give him “a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard,” and you might have yourself Rubeus Hagrid, the gruff, dark-eyed, animal-loving half-giant.

Irish actress, director, producer, and writer Sharon Horgan is reportedly another candidate for the role of the elderly Professor Minerva McGonagall. She may be little too young to play her, though, not to mention that her bright eyes, bubbly demeanor, and perpetual smile typically do wonders for her comedic roles. 

Still, Horgan does have a pronounced jawline and downturned lips, which could help her portray a strict, thin-lipped witch with pulled-back dark hair.