Nicholas Hoult joins HBO's Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart
Superman star Nicholas Hoult has joined the cast for the second season of the new HBO Harry Potter series.
With plenty of the cast for the new series now confirmed, reports from Deadline and Variety have revealed that Hoult - who had been widely tipped to play Voldemort - has been cast as the villainous Gilderoy Lockhart.
Having previously been rumoured to be part of the line-up, it's a bit of a full circle for the once child star who actually auditioned for the iconic films.
The Skins actor previously revealed that he originally auditioned before Chris Columbus for various roles in the Wizarding World, including the boy wizard himself and Draco Malfoy.
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So, I guess he's played the long game as it's now been revealed that he'll be playing Lockhart in the new TV adaptation and joining for the second season.
With the first season out at Christmas, the second adapts the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
The new role will give Hoult plenty to sink his teeth into as Lockhart is a central character in the second book.
The half-blood wizard is hired by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts where he quickly earns himself a reputation for being vain, fame-obsessed and more than a little bit full of himself.
Although Lockhart appears charming on the surface, underneath it all he’s hiding something very different altogether and things quickly take a dark turn.
The role was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
The character also pops up again in Order of the Phoenix, however, this was cut from the films.
Beside Skins, Hoult is well known for his long list of TV and film credits, including the likes of About a Boy as a child before going on to the likes of Clash of the Titans and X-Men: First Class.
But playing a villain should come easy to Hoult, who has recently starred in The Menu, Nosferatu and Superman.
Hoult's auditions for the original films
During an appearance on Hot Ones Versus with Lily-Rose Depp, the actor admitted he'd auditioned for the first film and quipped that he still hadn't heard back from director Columbus.
"I remember doing a couple of auditions, and then meeting him and maybe having fake glasses for the audition," Hoult recalled.
"Not getting the role of Harry, and then maybe coming back and [them] being like, 'Will you audition for Malfoy?'
"I don’t think I got that either, and then they were like just gradually audition for every role in Harry Potter until they were like, 'No'."
Topics: Harry Potter, HBO, TV and Film, Celebrity
Jess Battison