Role Call: Rumors, Recordings, and Appearances

As the Diagon Alley Preview Event winds down and we start to finally focus on our Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations (you ARE studying, right?), we’ve uncovered a rumor, a first look, some film stills and trailers for upcoming films, and a lyric video for a spoken word album to calm your over-excited nerves. Take a look at what’s happening for Potter alum in this week’s Casting News!

Rumor has it that a second member of the Potter cast will be joining the Star Wars franchise. Earlier this week, SlashFilm expanded on the news that a new character for the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels had been created. The character, called The Inquisitor, is “tasked by Darth Vador to hunt down the remaining Jedi”. While this character was the first to be revealed for the animated series back in October at the New York Comic-Con, he is the only character whose voice actor has not yet been revealed. According to an insider who works on the series, Jason Isaacs will be providing the voice for this ruthless character. Isaacs is currently filming in Jerusalem for his new series, Dig, so it remains to be seen if this rumor holds any weight, as representatives for the project have only stated that they have not confirmed casting for the role.

Almost as soon as the second trailer for David Heyman‘s upcoming film, Paddington, was released, the man behind the voice of the Peruvian bear has left the project. Colin Firth was to have voiced the loveable character, but he told Entertainment Weekly that while he enjoyed working on the project and has seen most of the film, he and the production company have decided that he was not the right voice for the character.

It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realisation that he simply doesn’t have my voice.”

The film will move forward with recasting the voice role of Paddington and the new actor will be announced in the coming weeks, while the original Christmas release date for the film will remain unchanged. The film also stars Julie Walters as Mrs. Brown, who adopts the bear after finding him in a train station, and Jim Broadbent who voices Mr. Gruber, an antique shop owner that befriends Paddington.

We previously reported on the spoken-word album by Imelda Staunton and her husband, Jim Carter, created to commemorate the First World War. On Thursday, The Telegraph released a video of one of the poems that is read over the music by the band Show of Hands. The poem, Lads in their Hundreds, is one of a handful read by the couple on the album Centenary: Words & Music of the Great War. You can view the video here and pay special attention at about 2:38 in, where Imelda reads the poem.

Whenever Gary Oldman appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live, you know it’s going to be hilarious. Set your DVR’s, folks, because Oldman is a scheduled guest this coming week, not just a surprise guest star in one of Kimmel’s skits (a few of which can be seen here and here). He is slated to appear on June 25th – check your local listings for showtimes.

Robert Pattinson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday to promote his post-apocalyptic film, The Rover. The trailer for the film was released a few months ago, but the clip shown on this episode shows a little more about the character Rob plays. You can view Rob’s interview segments, The Rover clip, and the trailer below:

The first image of Emma Thompson in character in her upcoming film The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson has been released. Emma is seen along side her on-screen son, played by actor Robert Carlyle, who also happens to make his directorial debut with this film. Take a look below:

Finally, new stills were released today of Domhnall Gleeson in the film Frank, along with a movie poster. You can see the stills, poster, and trailer below and don’t forget to check out the film in theaters on August 15:

That’s it for this week’s edition of Role Call – tell us what you think about the upcoming projects and don’t forget to check out the Cast and Crew Pages to learn more about your favorite Harry Potter stars, including little-known trivia and the charities they support!