Like it or not, WB Pictures is pushing forward with their Harry Potter reboot, and the search is on for the next children who will play Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
It was considered a crazy feat for the original Potter films to stick to the original actors for ten years, and it looks like the series is going to be doing the same thing again with the new actors—but it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way.
Just Recast Potter Every Few Years
Discussion has been going around about the production of the Potter reboot online, and replying to a post about how it was a ‘miracle’ that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint played their roles for all of the films, Erik Voss (of New Rockstars) suggested that the series should just reboot every few years. Here’s his post:
The thought isn’t really radical as well. The Crown has managed to go along recasting every few years to reflect the different eras of Queen Elizabeth’s life, and House of the Dragon recast the part of Rhaenyra Targaryen mid-season—from Milly Alcock to Emma D’Arcy— to portray a huge time skip.
Harry Potter and the Consequences of Child Acting
It’s no mystery that child actors have a lot of stress put on them, especially when they become the center of something famous. Though there are some laws put in place now for their mental health, kids like Macaulay Culkin and Lindsay Lohan had to go through what they did in their rise to fame at a young age.
Just looking at the original Potter films, it was honestly a miracle that they managed to keep the main trio intact for 10 years. Back in 2022, it was revealed that Emma Watson had almost quit the part of Hermione because of the toll that it was taking on her mental health.
Imagining a new trio of kids at the center of the franchise would mean a lot of pressure for them for a solid decade if the plans should push through. Not to mention, the way social media is now, fanbases have only gotten more demanding and toxic since the first Potter film came out.
How Recasting Helps
Should the Potter series decide to regularly recast the kids, it would become safer from a logistical standpoint, and it saves the pressure off anyone to have to be the center of the franchise for ten years.
On the other hand, there have been child actors who have managed to grow in their roles, like the kids from Modern Family, but even they weren’t safe from the mental toll of being famous at a very young age.
It’s not clear what HBO plans to do moving forward, but a lot of fans seem to be on board with the idea that they should just recast—for the sake of the kids. After all, previous successful series have done it before.
No release date has been set for the Harry Potter reboot, but it’s expected to premiere on Max in the next few years.