10 Harry Potter Characters The HBO Reboot Has To Get Right

However, even if the HBO series adds in the fan-favorite moments from the books, it will never work if the casting isn't top-notch. That is the one area where the movies knocked it out of the park. From the three main young actors who grew into their roles to the illustrious British actors who took on the roles of adult characters, the movies didn't have a single bad casting choice. The HBO series needs to match that.

There are several characters who need to have perfect actors filling them out. From the three youngsters in the cast (Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout) to John Lithgow as Dumbledore, and several actors who still need to be cast, it is essential that this series gets things right. There are many characters who could have a bigger role on TV, and the casting of these characters is just as important as the stars from the original movies.

10 Bellatrix Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange is one of Voldemort's deadliest and most unhinged Death Eaters from the movies. While she was not quite as unhinged in the books, it will be really hard for the HBO Harry Potter series to match what Helena Bonham Carter brought to the role in the movies. Bonham Carter helped shape Bellatrix's decayed post-Azkaban look, including the blackened teeth, and improvised several of the character's most memorable moments.

In the books, she played the key role in torturing Neville Longbottom's parents using the Cruciatus Curse, which helped add to the misdirection to the theory that Longbottom was the Chosen One instead of Potter. Lestrange has not been cast yet, and she doesn't debut until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When the time comes, the HBO show has to get it right to match Bonham Carter's legacy.

9 Lord Voldemort

Lord Voldemort is the overarching villain of the entire Harry Potter series, so his casting is just as important as the casting of the three hero children. However, since there is a lot of prosthetics going into his depiction, the big thing that the HBO series has to get right is his voice and the way he carries himself. The movies cast the perfect actor in Ralph Fiennes in the role.

Like Bellatrix, there is no actor known for Voldemort's role in the Harry Potter series, as he does not appear in the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, other than as a face on the back of Professor Quirinus Quirrell's head, although that isn't recognizable. He first appears as an adult in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so there is time to find the perfect actor for Voldemort, with names like Cillian Murphy heading many dream cast lists.

8 Ginny Weasley

When it comes to Harry Potter characters who need to get more screen time in the Harry Potter HBO series, compared to the movies, Ginny Weasley is one of the names that tops that list. Bonnie Wright played Ginny in the movies, but she was widely underwritten throughout all the movies, even though she played a much larger role in the books. The fact that she marries Harry when they become adults makes her lack of screen time in the movies questionable.

In the books, Ginny is sassy, snarky, and quick-witted, closer to Fred and George in humor than her other brother, Ron. In the movies, Ginny was reduced to a quiet background character defined mostly by her relationship with Harry. Gracie Cochrane was cast to play Ginny on HBO, but she chose to leave the show after the first season, and it will need to have a strong recast for season 2.

7 Sirius Black

What makes the Sirius Black casting so hard is that whoever HBO brings in to play Harry's godfather will have to match what Gary Oldman brought to the role. Oldman, one of the best actors of his generation, was brilliant when he debuted in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as a supposed mass murderer who ended up as one of Potter's most trusted mentors before his death.

Whoever takes on the role needs to be able to portray the reckless wizard who spent too much time in Azkaban before finally getting a short chance to help his closest friend's son. His death is one of the most tragic moments from the books, so whoever HBO casts needs to make him someone who can tear the viewers' hearts out when he dies fighting alongside Potter. The seven seasons can really help develop this character even better than the movies did.

6 Hermione Granger

Arabella Stanton plays Hermione in the HBO Harry Potter series, and she has more experience than most of the young cast members thanks to her stage career as a child actor. This is important because she has big shoes to fill, with Emma Watson mastering the role as Hermione in the movies, and remaining an incredible representation of the smartest young wizard in the main trio.

However, one thing that the movies did that broke away from the books was making Hermione into one of the most flawless characters, stripping away her self-doubt and unsure personality that made her more well-rounded in the books. The HBO series needs to make Hermione more human and give her flaws, and Stanton needs to be able to portray them. While it remains to be seen, she seems to have the skills for this role.

5 Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom is the one character who needs to get a lot more screen time than he did in the movies. This is because readers predicted that he might be the Chosen One instead of Harry Potter thanks to the similarities of their childhoods. However, he was nothing more than a side character, and when he got his chance in the final movie to excel in the Battle of Hogwarts, it felt a little undeserved.

Matthew Lewis was great as Longbottom, but he never got the chance to really make the character as memorable as he was in the books. For the HBO Harry Potter series, Rory Wilmot has been cast to play Neville, and he needs to have the arc he had in the books, from his arc as a forgetful boy to a battlefield leader.

4 Albus Dumbledore

There was a rule set in place by Rowling for the movies that stipulated that all characters had to be cast with only British actors. That rule is not in place for the HBO Harry Potter series, and the biggest American casting choice in the series so far is John Lithgow playing Albus Dumbledore. He follows two actors from the movies, with Richard Harris starring in the first two movies and Michael Gambon replacing him after Harris's death.

The movies somewhat changed Dumbledore from the books, which saw the headmaster as a calm and grandfatherly figure. Gambon made him a little more aggressive in the movies, and it will be interesting to see how Lithgow takes on the role. Lithgow getting his temperament right matters because Dumbledore's calm authority underpins his mentorship of Harry.

3 Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy is the one young character who was as important as Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the books and movies. He was Harry's most personal antagonist throughout both, as the school bully who pushed around Harry and tortured him before Voldemort ever arrived. Tom Felton also grew into his role and delivered a great performance as a young man who had to find his place in the world despite his Death Eater father's allegiance to Voldemort.

For most of the series, the movies portrayed Draco as a one-note villain while the books show him with more insecurity and inner conflict, which did play out in the final three movies. His reluctance to murder Dumbledore reveals genuine humanity, making him one of the saga's most redeemable antagonists. Lox Pratt plays Draco in the HBO series.

2 Harry Potter

The most important casting decision for the HBO Harry Potter series is Potter himself. Daniel Radcliffe was magnificent in his role as Potter through all the movies, growing up in front of the world on the big screen. In the books, Potter is a lot angrier and more sarcastic, while in the movies, he was softened up into a more empathetic and soulful teenager. Like Hermione, his flaws were mostly brushed away in the movies.

Dominic McLaughlin plays Potter in the new HBO Harry Potter series, and he has huge shoes to fill, taking over for Radcliffe. The Scottish newcomer's only prior credits are the Sky comedy Grow, opposite his Hagrid co-star Nick Frost, and the TV show Gifted. As long as he can deliver a great performance, his unknown persona might be for the best. He just needs to get Potter's edge right.

1 Severus Snape

While Harry Potter is the most important role for the HBO series to cast, the hardest will be Severus Snape. This is because the best actor in the entire movie series, by far, is Alan Rickman as Snape. Rickman played the role across all eight films, going from a hated antagonist to tortured Potter to a beloved hero, who revealed he was always protecting Potter behind the scenes and sacrificed himself to save the Boy Wizard.

As the Head of Slytherin, Snape is a double agent and was later revealed to be the Half-Blood Prince. He is arguably the series' most complex figure, so the reboot getting him right is the highest-stakes call. Paapa Essiedu was cast to play Snape on HBO, and the fact that he was race-swapped caused controversy. That said, if Essiedu delivers even part of the brilliance of Rickman, he could easily sway opinion since it is the most difficult casting choice for Harry Potter.