Scared, Potter? You wish.
New Harry Potter star Lox Pratt — who is taking on the role of Draco Malfoy in HBO’s upcoming TV adaptation — says the show is going to be very different from the books and movies (in which Tom Felton originally played the platinum-haired wizard, before reprising the character in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
“With this adaptation, you get to see so much more than the books,” Pratt, 14, said in an interview with 1883 Magazine. “[The books] are very much over Harry’s shoulder, which is great, and that’s how they played the film as well. And I think [showrunners] Francesca [Gardiner] and Mark [Mylod] have been audible about this in their interviews, there’s just so much more that you get to see. You get to see all the teachers in their little rooms. You get to see Draco at home.”
Fans of J.K. Rowling’s book series remember that young Draco is only seen in the first installment at Hogwarts, so this is already a major change from the source material. But Pratt is excited about how his character’s role is expanding in the new adaptation.
Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage
“I won’t spoil too much about that, but there are some brilliant scenes at home where you start to get an insight into how he is,” Pratt adds. “I was grateful that we had the…freedom to explore these characters, because in the films, Draco is sort of 2D. He is the sneery villain. I feel like there’s so much more — you need to understand why. And you see little glints of it in the film with Lucius and stuff.”
Pratt went on to say that the series “is really brilliant.”
“I can’t wait to bring it to the screen,” he added.
Meanwhile, Johnny Flynn will take on the role of Draco’s nefarious father Lucius Malfoy in the series, and Pratt recently praised his new onscreen father to The Hollywood Reporter.
“He’s a really wonderful man,” Pratt told the outlet. “I think we work pretty well as a duo onscreen, or I like to think we do. But he’s a lovely guy, and he’s got a lot of aura.”
HBO’s TV adaptation is currently in production on the first season. The show is adapting one book per season.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
The new cast was revealed in 2025, with original movie stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint handing over their roles to a trio of newcomers that, per a statement from showrunner Gardiner, were chosen from “tens of thousands of children” who auditioned after HBO issued an open casting call. The new stars are: Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
Other main roles include: John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, and Nick Frost as Hagrid.
Harry Potter is slated to premiere in 2027.