HBO just made the best casting decision of the entire Harry Potter reboot. Rafe Spall is playing Arthur Weasley in Season 2, and the internet has already decided this is perfect. Meanwhile, fans can’t stop pointing out the most delightfully awkward family detail about it.
Rafe Spall will play Arthur Weasley, the Weasley patriarch and father of seven, including Ron. He takes over the role Mark Williams played in the films. HBO also announced that Molly Hewitt-Richards will play Moaning Myrtle and Jasper Ambrose will play Colin Creevey. Season 2, based on Chamber of Secrets, is filming now at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden.
Here’s where it gets funny. Spall’s father is Timothy Spall, who played Peter Pettigrew in the original movies. Peter Pettigrew, for the uninitiated, is the man who betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort. So the son of the franchise’s most pathetic traitor is now playing the warmest, kindest father figure in the entire series. The redemption arc nobody asked for but everybody needed.
Rafe Spall is best known for Apple TV’s Trying, Life of Pi, The Big Short, and The Ritual. He’s a genuinely great actor. Fans are already calling him “the PERFECT Arthur.” One fan noted that Spall’s partner, Esther Smith, actually played Delphi Diggory in The Cursed Child, which means this family has been circling the wizarding world for years without anyone noticing. HBO is assembling something special here, and they know it.
What makes this casting click is the tonal whiplash. Timothy Spall spent five films playing a sniveling rat-man who sold out his best friends. Rafe Spall gets to play the dad who invites Harry to the Quidditch World Cup and yells about Muggle plugs. That’s not just fun casting. That’s poetry.
The Moaning Myrtle and Colin Creevey announcements also landed well. Myrtle is a fan-favorite ghost with an attitude problem, and Colin is the camera-obsessed Gryffindor who hero-worships Harry. HBO has been on a roll with Season 2 announcements, and these additions round out the Hogwarts roster nicely.
The new cast joins Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart, Lenny Rush as Dobby, and Billy Barratt as Tom Riddle, alongside returning leads Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, and Alastair Stout as Ron. The first season premieres on Christmas Day, with Season 2 already filming.
If the Rafe Spall casting is any indication, HBO isn’t just remaking the movies. They’re rewriting the legacy. Rafe Spall as Arthur Weasley isn’t just good casting. It’s a full-circle moment the Spall family probably never saw coming. And honestly, it’s the best news this reboot has delivered yet.
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