Peter Serafinowich has been cast as poltergeist Peeves in HBO’s Harry Potter series.
The character is a cheeky ghost known for causing trouble in the hallways of Hogwarts, and although he did not appear in the original Harry Potter films, he is a fan favorite.
Serafinowicz, who is repped by the Curtis Brown Group, UTA, 3 Arts and Peikoff Mahan, most recently starred in last year’s live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon. He is also known for his roles as Edgar Covington in Parks and Recreation and Denarian Saar in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
The actor and comedian has a long history of voice acting and animation roles, from voicing Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to Big Daddy in Sing and Sing 2.
Fans are sure to be excited to see Peeves finally appear on screen. In the original film series, Peeves was to be played by British comedian Rik Mayall, who passed away in 2014, but the role was cut due to time constraints. “I shot a little bit, went home, got paid a lot of money, and a month later they said, ‘Rick, I’m sorry, you’re not in the movie,'” Mayall once revealed in an interview. Despite being left on the cutting room floor, Mayall was offered opening day tickets to the film, which he passed on to his children as he was busy filming another project. “I didn’t tell the kids they weren’t participating yet,” he recalled. “And they came back and said, ‘That’s really nice makeup. It doesn’t look like me at all, Dad, and it looks great.’ I thought they thought I was playing Hagrid.”
The HBO adaptation, reportedly planned as a seven-season spectacle with each season featuring one novel from J.K. Rowling’s epic novel series, has always planned to “go deeper” than the movies.
“The scope of the production, what they’ve gone through, and the detail and attention to detail of what they’ve built, takes theater to a whole other level,” WBD President of Global Streaming and Gaming JB Perrett said last year. “And given our love for that series and what we’re able to do with it, we’re able to go deeper, we’re able to tell more stories, we’re able to convey more parts that we couldn’t capture in a two-hour movie…I really think this is the best streaming event in 10 years.”
Dominic McLaughlin will play the titular Potter on the show, while Arabella Staunton and Alastair Stout will play the roles of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. John Lithgow has been cast as Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Papa Essiedu as Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
“Harry Potter,” written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner, will be available exclusively on HBO and HBO Max this December. Season 2 is currently in production.
Executive Mark Mylod is producing and directing multiple episodes of the series for HBO in conjunction with Bronte Film & Television and Warner Bros. Television. JK Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley Letts of Bronte Film & Television and David Heyman of Heyday Films will serve as executive producers.
