Why are the Harry Potter TV show cast so young compared to the movies?
From Petunia Dursley to Severus Snape, Professor Minerva McGonagall to Lucius Malfoy, a number of the cast portraying the adults in the story appear much younger than their movie counterparts were back in 2001. Bel Powley, who has been cast as Harry Potter's menacing aunt Petunia Dursley, for example, is 33 compared to Fiona Shaw's 43 when she began the movies, while 42-year-old Daniel Rigby is 12 years younger than his movie counterpart, Richard Griffiths.
The same can be said of Paapa Essiedu, who stars as Severus Snape in the upcoming series and is only 35. His movie counterpart Alan Rickman was 54 when he first took on the role of the potions master in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
So why are the TV series cast so much younger than their movie counterparts? Well there is a good explanation and it all stems from the books.
In Rowling's novels the adult characters, for the most part, are much younger than they were depicted in the films. Snape was just 31 during the events of the first book, while Petunia is Lily Potter's older sister and was therefore only 34 — both of which match closer to the ages of the actors in the TV series.
Lucius Malfoy is being played by Johnny Flynn in the series, the actor is aged 42 which is slightly older then his character who is 37 in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The same is true of Vernon Dursley, who is 37 in the first book and is played by a slightly older actor, Rigby.
Katherine Parkinson was recently cast as Molly Weasley in the TV series. The character is in her forties in the first book which matches with Parkinson, who is 47. Julie Walters portrayed Molly in the movies, and she was aged 50 when production started on the first film.
The biggest age difference between book and TV show characters is with Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore, the former is 63 in the first novel while the latter is 110. It goes without saying that no one expects the series to match Dumbledore's age in the books, and it is 79-year-old John Lithgow who plays him. Meanwhile Nick Frost is ten years younger than his book counterpart
The HBO series prides itself on being a more accurate take on the source material than the movies, which is exactly why the cast are so much younger than might have been expected.
The Harry Potter TV series will be released in 2027.

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