The forthcoming HBO adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world is expanding its roster with a surprising addition: 25-year-old English actor Harry Gilby has been announced as the new Charlie Weasley. The first season, slated to debut on Dec. 25, 2026, will feature the character—previously relegated to a fleeting 1.5-second cameo in the 2004 film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—in a more substantial storyline.
Gilby arrives with a résumé that spans thirteen screen credits, including his portrayal of the gay King Aethelstan in The Last Kingdom and its sequel, as well as a turn as a young J.R.R. Tolkien in the 2019 biopic Tolkien. Yet it is his 2017 performance as Charlie Lyndsay—a closeted trans soccer prodigy—in the independent drama Just Charlie that earned him two newcomer nominations: Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Newcomer at the National Film Awards UK the following year.
From West End stages to the wizarding world
Born in Nottingham, Gilby first stepped onto a professional stage in 2013 as Nathan in the original West End production of The Full Monty. He transitioned to television three years later with a brief appearance as a Village Lad in the period drama Jericho. Over the next decade he built a reputation for taking on complex, often marginalized characters, a trajectory that now brings him to the magical realm of Hogwarts.
Charlie Weasley, the second-oldest of Arthur and Molly Weasley’s sons, has long been a footnote in the books, occasionally mentioned but never given dialogue on screen. In the original film series the character was portrayed by model-actor Alex Crockford, who appeared only in a family photograph taken in Egypt. Crockford humorously noted on social media that his screen time amounted to “1.5 seconds,” marking a modest legacy that Gilby’s casting aims to overturn.
Production details and creative team
The HBO series is the brainchild of Francesca Gardiner, who serves as both writer and executive producer. She is joined by a cadre of seasoned producers: J.K. Rowling herself, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, David Heyman of Heyday Films, Laura Neal, and Jon Brown. Filming for the second season, which will adapt Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is underway at Leavesden Studios on the outskirts of London.
Alongside Gilby, the first season also introduces Jasper Talbot as James Potter and Hannah Chinn as Lily Potter, expanding the narrative beyond Harry’s school years to include flashbacks of his parents. The ensemble features a blend of seasoned veterans—John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall—and rising talent such as Dominic McLaughlin (Harry) and Arabella Stanton (Hermione).
Controversy surrounding the franchise
The announcement arrives amid renewed scrutiny of Rowling’s public stance on transgender rights. Financial disclosures estimate her net worth at roughly one billion U.S. dollars. In 2025 she established the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund, which allocates resources to “cisgender women fighting to retain sex-based rights” in areas like sports, workplaces, and single-sex spaces. That same year she contributed about $88,000 to the anti-trans organization For Women Scotland, which supported a landmark UK Supreme Court case that defined “man” and “woman” strictly by biological sex.
Pro-trans activists responded with a masked demonstration that disrupted the red-carpet gala for the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The protest underscored the tension between the franchise’s cultural cachet and the creator’s controversial activism, a backdrop that adds complexity to the series’ release.
With Gilby’s casting, HBO signals a willingness to re-examine marginalised characters through a more inclusive lens, even as the franchise grapples with its creator’s off-screen positions. Whether the new portrayal of Charlie Weasley will satisfy fans, activists, or both remains to be seen, but the series is poised to spark conversation as much as it does magic.
