The British actor has been cast as Severus Snape, the potions professor at Hogwarts. Alan Rickman played Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Essiedu earned several nominations for his role in the BBC’s I May Destroy You and costarred with Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

On Tuesday, just as filming for the highly anticipated TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s bestselling book franchise officially got underway in London, HBO Max introduced the actors playing Ron Weasley’s older brothers, Percy, Fred and George, as well as his younger sister Ginny.