Ralph Fiennes says he is not returning to the harry potter universe as Voldemort, even as HBO prepares a new version of J.K. Rowling’s books. Appearing on ’s The Claudia Winkleman Show, Fiennes said he had been asked before about reprising the role, but added, “But then nothing’s happened, and I think that ship has sailed.”
The comments land just as the new series moves deeper into casting and toward a Christmas 2026 premiere on HBO. The Voldemort role has not yet been cast, but the project already has Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, along with Nick Frost as Hagrid, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy.
Fiennes played Voldemort in five of the eight Harry Potter films, giving him one of the franchise’s defining performances. The HBO project is a reimagining of the seven-part book series and the Warner Bros. film franchise, with Francesca Gardiner serving as showrunner and Mark Mylod directing several episodes. It will stream exclusively on HBO Max.
That leaves the central villain’s casting as one of the series’ biggest open questions, and Fiennes was willing to throw out one name. “I’ll tell you, Tilda Swinton was mentioned somewhere as being a contender, and I think she would be amazing,” he said. The remark comes after Cillian Murphy addressed rumors last year that he would take the part, saying he did not know anything about the speculation and calling Fiennes “an absolute acting legend.”
For now, the message from the actor most associated with Voldemort is plain: the role is still open, but not for him. The new Harry Potter series has its Harry, Ron and Hermione, but it still has to decide who will carry its darkest character into Christmas 2026.
