Hogwarts is getting another teacher, and this one is probably not going to make Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s lives any easier. HBO has confirmed that Nicholas Hoult will play Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Season 2 of its upcoming Harry Potter series. Lockhart is one of those characters who is almost impossible to forget, mostly because he has an incredible talent for making every situation about himself. He’s charming, confident, and very good at telling people exactly how impressive he is. The only problem is that almost none of it is true.
Nicholas Hoult Is Heading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom
Hoult will play Lockhart in the second season, which will adapt J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Kenneth Branagh previously played the character in the 2002 movie, turning Lockhart into one of the more memorable parts of the story. A former Ravenclaw student, bestselling author, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award, Lockhart arrives at Hogwarts with a résumé that sounds almost too good to be true. In his case, that is pretty much the point.
Dumbledore hires him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a position that already has a reputation for going badly. Lockhart doesn’t seem particularly concerned about that, though. He arrives at Hogwarts claiming to have defeated dangerous magical creatures all over the world and is more than happy to share stories about his supposed adventures.
The truth is considerably less flattering. Lockhart has built his entire reputation by taking credit for things other wizards have actually done and then wiping their memories with Memory Charms (Obliviate) so they can’t expose him. So, yes, he is basically a fraud with excellent hair and a very successful publicist—except he is the publicist.
Why Hoult Could Be a Great Lockhart
Hoult seems like a pretty natural fit for the role. He has already spent years jumping between very different kinds of characters, from Beast in the X-Men movies and the brutal world of Mad Max: Fury Road to Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman. One thing he has consistently been good at, though, is playing characters who can be entertaining and charming while also being deeply unpleasant underneath it all. That’s exactly the balance Lockhart needs.
His performance as Emperor Peter III in Hulu’s The Great is probably the clearest example. Peter is vain, childish, and completely convinced that the world revolves around him, yet Hoult manages to make him more than just a joke. There is always something a little unsettling beneath the ridiculousness. Lockhart isn’t the same kind of character, but that ability to play someone who genuinely believes his own hype should come in handy.
The HBO series will also have much more time than the movie did to explore Lockhart’s various disasters, including the Cornish pixies lesson and his bizarrely enthusiastic Valentine’s Day celebrations. Frankly, the more time this version of Lockhart gets to embarrass himself, the better.
Hoult will also be joining a pretty stacked group of adult actors. John Lithgow is playing Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu is Severus Snape, Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall, and Nick Frost is Hagrid. Putting Hoult’s Lockhart in a room with those characters should give the series plenty of opportunities for some very entertaining clashes, particularly if McGonagall has to put up with his nonsense on a regular basis.
Hoult Has Been Trying to Get Into Harry Potter for Years
There is a fun bit of history behind Hoult’s casting that makes the whole thing feel a little more appropriate. More than two decades ago, long before he became Beast, Lex Luthor, or Emperor Peter III, Hoult actually auditioned for the original Harry Potter movies. And he wasn’t initially trying out for just any Hogwarts student—he auditioned to play Harry himself.
During an appearance on the First We Feast YouTube channel, Hoult talked about going through the early audition process and even wearing fake glasses for his screen test. As the casting process continued, he was asked to try out for other roles as well, including Draco Malfoy. He ultimately didn’t land a part in the original movies, but things worked out pretty well for him anyway. His career went in a completely different direction, and now he’s coming back to the Wizarding World more than 20 years later. He may not have gotten to wear Harry’s glasses, but he will at least get his own Hogwarts robes.
There’s another nice connection behind the casting. The HBO series is executive produced and directed by Mark Mylod, who previously worked with Hoult on The Menu. During an appearance on the TODAY show, Hoult has joked about having Mylod’s number and asking him if he was “too old for Harry this time.” Well, the answer was apparently yes. But considering the role he ended up with, that might have worked out even better. Lockhart is exactly the kind of character Hoult can have fun with.
When Will Harry Potter Season 2 Begin Filming?
HBO is already moving ahead with the next stage of its Harry Potter adaptation. The first season will consist of eight episodes and will cover Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with the series scheduled to debut exclusively on HBO Max on December 25, 2026. Season 2 will then move into Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, bringing Lockhart and the rest of the story’s second-year chaos into the series.
Production on Season 2 is scheduled to begin this fall, so Hoult is joining the cast well ahead of filming. HBO has made it clear that it wants this to be a long-running, book-faithful adaptation, meaning there should be considerably more room to explore characters and scenes that the movies had to rush through. That could be especially good news for Lockhart, since his entire personality is basically built around taking up as much space as possible.
For Hoult, though, the casting is probably the most amusing part of the story. He auditioned to play Harry Potter when he was a kid, didn’t get the role, and went on to build a very different career. More than 20 years later, he’s finally heading to Hogwarts. Just not as Harry. Instead, he’ll be playing the vain, dishonest, and ridiculously confident professor who probably thinks he should have been Harry all along. Honestly, that feels like a pretty good ending to the story.