Role Call: Veela Love Story, All Hail Queen Narcissa!

John Hurt has joined the cast of The Pity of War: The Lives and Loves of the War Poets, a one-hour drama set for ITV  He will play Sigfried Sassoon and the series is only one part of a series that will be celebrating the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. This particular installment will follow the relationships between Hurt’s character and two others as they tell their stories of the war. The series is set to air this August.

Hurt will also be performing a play for charity called White Rabbit, Red Rabbit at the Holt festival on July 25th. He will be introduced by comedian Stephen Fry. The play, by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, was written to be performed by a different actor each time with no rehearsal and no director. The play simply has a sealed envelope waiting on stage for the actor. All proceeds from the performance will go to PEN International, a worldwide association that promotes human rights, freedom of expression and friendship and co-operation among writers everywhere. To see how you can attend the performance, visit the Holt Festival website here.

John Cleese and the rest of the Pythons began their farewell tour last week and were joined by special guest and Harry Potter alum Stephen Fry, who is the voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks for the UK. The final show of the tour will be July 20, when the show will be broadcast live to cinemas around the world and on television for those living in the UK. Check your local listings and theaters for showtimes in your area.

Speaking of John Cleese – do you remember the tiny rumor about Cleese becoming a villain for a spy spoof written by former Baywatch actors? Well, the movie is still happening, but apparently the production can in no way mention the former television series due to copyright restrictions. According to the director of the film, Chris Cottam, the fact that they can’t say the series name in the film has become a running joke. We can’t wait to see how this will turn out, considering the entire premise for catching Cleese’s character is that he is a huge fan of the series and the actors from the show are hired as undercover operatives to catch the villainous Cleese!

Among the many other roles David Bradley seems to have his hand in, another role is growing closer to airing. American television station FX has been airing advertisements for its new science fiction drama, The Strain. In an effort to bring in viewers for the new gory series which premieres July 13, FX has released a series of featurettes, one of which introduces us to David’s character, Professor Setrakian. Take a look at the teaser below – but be warned, this is a very gory series. Viewer discretion is advised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFuZUv5miRI

One of my favorite actresses from the Potter series is Helen McCrory, so it’s always lovely to see when she has a new project out. She is currently filming Bill, a movie revolving around the lost years of William Shakespeare. Helen is taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth I and she revealed recently to the London Evening Standard that this costume is the one that scares her children the most! Take a look at the photo and see what she had to say:

My children recently came on set to watch me play Elizabeth I in an upcoming film. I warned them I decided to play her as she really looked, with pockmarked skin and bald, but occasionally they wake up in the night whimpering and I wonder if it’s because of that image.

Rumor has it that fans of David Thewlis may soon see him on US television! Bryan Fuller, who runs the series Hannibal, has let it be known that he would love to have David join the cast of the show:

I’m a huge fan of David Thewlis. I would love him to come and play with us.

Timothy Spall‘s Mr. Turner, for which he won a best actor award in Cannes, will now premiere in Turkey at the Filmekimi festival in October. The film will also be playing alongside Robert Pattinson‘s film, Maps to the Stars.

Last week, we told you about a very mysterious project that Stephen Fry advertised via his Twitter account. We now have answers as to what this project will be! Stephen is joining former 24 co-star Kiefer Sutherland in a Christmas film, Marked. He will be playing Father Christmas, and a few photos were released of the actor on set. You can view them below!

Clemence Poesy continues to push her career in various ways – she was previously linked with the fragrance line for Chloe as the face for the brand, and it appears that this relationship is still ongoing. Last week, the actress and model appeared at the Love Story party for the perfume, and you can see how stylish she was – I really think she must be part Veela! She will next be seen in the drama series The Tunnel on ABC1 alongside Stephen Dillane, the father of former Potter alum and young Voldemort, Frank Dillane.

You may have heard a little bit of news about a certain lead Harry Potter actor attending San Diego Comic-Con: International…well, he won’t be the only Potter alum in attendance! While he will only be in attendance via satellite, actor Jason Isaacs will take part in the television panel for the upcoming mystery series Dig. His panel is already on the SDCC schedule for Thursday 7/24. To see all the television panels currently on the schedule, visit the Flickering Myth website here – they’ve kindly broken each panel down for you!

That’s it for this week’s edition of Casting News – what did you think about the upcoming roles and appearances? Let us know what you would like to see your favorite HP actors take on by commenting below!