Andy Serkis says he is waiting for the call to play Voldemort in HBO’s Harry Potter TV reboot, but the role remains officially uncast as Warner Bros. and HBO Max move toward the series’ release. The actor, known for Gollum, Supreme Leader Snoke and Ulysses Klaue, said on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, “Definitely, I’m just waiting for the call, basically, that’s a cool one.”
The new series is expected to begin streaming at the end of this year, and its first season will cover the events of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone across eight episodes. HBO has already set its core trio with Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger.
Voldemort is the missing piece, even as the character remains central to the franchise. Cillian Murphy has come up in conversations about the role, while rumors had pointed to Paul Bettany as a top option. Bettany said in March 2026 that he had not heard those reports.
Serkis’ name entered the mix partly because the first book gives Voldemort only one scene of action, which means the role would likely require limited early involvement. The character is not fully fleshed out as a physical presence until the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, then becomes far more prominent in the last three installments. Serkis said Ralph Fiennes has “big boots to follow,” a reminder of the shadow left by the actor who played Voldemort in the late 2000s across the last five Harry Potter movies.
The timing also works for Serkis, who is directing and starring in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum this year and will return as Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman — Part II. That makes him one of the few actors with the range, and the schedule, to step into a part that may not dominate the opening season but still carries enormous franchise weight. For now, though, the hbo harry potter cast still has its biggest villain left to find.