Role Call: Sweet Adventures with “Potter” Cast!

by · October 29, 2016

Another week, another set of new and entertaining projects on the horizon for our Potter cast members! In this week’s Casting News, we jump into a river of chocolate with David Heyman, lament the Harry Potter song that never was, and get Real?/Honest?/Justice? with young Sirius Black! All that AND a trip to deep space with Gary Oldman in this week’s MuggleNet Role Call!

While David Heyman is joining us all in the excitement of the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he’s also confirmed to be producing a deliciously sweet new movie. It appears that another incarnation of Willy Wonka is poised to take place! Warner Bros. recently acquired rights to the story, and rumor has it there will be more than one film. According to Deadline, Heyman is set to produce at least the first film in the potential franchise, alongside the man who manages Roald Dahl’s estate, Michael Siegel. Simon Rich (The Secret Life of Pets) is set to write the screenplay.

The Boss and Harry Potter? Apparently, this is a real thing. Bruce Springsteen revealed to BBC Two’s Simon Mayo this week that he had submitted an original song for the Potter series, titled “I’ll Stand By You Always”. The song, a ballad written for Springsteen’s eldest son, was never used.

His time onscreen in the wizarding world may have been brief, but Rohan Gotobed (young Sirius Black) is still quite a busy guy! This November, he’s got three new roles to sink his teeth into. On November 3, you can see Rohan in Real?/Honest?/Justice? at the Minotaur Shorts Festival at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where he plays “a sadistic, unsettling psychopath.” Take a look below at the poster from production, which was written and produced by students at the university.

 

 

Additionally, he will take part in a second student play, Gorilla, on November 4. Rohan describes the production as “the Hunger Games of wordplay.” He is proud of both plays, stating:

Both characters are incredible and I’m really confident that each performance will be at a very very high standard. Both productions are gonna be amazing.

Tickets for both plays can be purchased here. Both plays run for 20 minutes, contain adult language and themes, and are exclusive to UEA.

Finally, if you tune in to BBC One on November 5, you’ll see his portrayal of a guest character on Casualty! Rohan will play a man named Rhys Morry, but that is all he would reveal to us. You’ll have to tune in to find out who Rhys Morry really is.

Sophie Thompson, the actress who played Malfalda Hopkirk and Hermione Granger as Malfalda Hopkirk, has donated a piece of her art to the National Brain Appeal’s exhibition, A Letter in Mind – A View in Nature.

 

 

The exhibition for the National Hospital for Neurology in Queen’s Square, Bloomsbury sold each piece anonymously then revealed the artist to the buyer after the purchase was complete. In total, the exhibition raised £15,000 in only a few days, and other pieces are still available. You can view the pieces and bid here.

The upcoming movie The Space Between Us has finally given us a look at one of its supporting stars, Gary Oldman (Sirius Black). Oldman portrays NASA director Nathaniel Shepherd in the film, and we’ve got our first look below:

 

 

Director Peter Chelsom describes the film, which spans a few genres, to Empire magazine, saying,

It’s about isolation and connection, amplified by the vastness of space. It’s heavy action and sci-fi and at times it feels like a sweet, low-budget romance. It’s the balance between that massive scope and that good, strong heart.

 

Another trailer released this week also stars Oldman alongside Shia LeBeouf. In the trailer for Man Down, a soldier reveals to Oldman something that happened during a raid while he was on his tour of duty in Afghanistan.

MuggleNet is totally down with the all-female cast of Ocean’s Eight, most especially because one of the bad-ass ladies in the film is none other than Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange)! Twitter has been abuzz with photos of the cast on set in New York, and we finally got a glimpse of the talented and always-quirky Bonham Carter. The outfit she’s wearing tells us she’s probably just chillin’ in her own clothes, but we suppose the wardrobe designers for the film could have taken inspiration straight from the lady herself.

Here she is, walking with co-star Cate Blanchett, both of them dressed super chic and ready to steal . . . whatever it is they’ll be stealing in the film. What you don’t see in this photo is actress Sandra Bullock, who also was filming in this scene.

We can’t wait to see what Bonham Carter brings to this film!

Downton Abbey and Dowager Countess fans, are you ready? We’re on rumor patrol! According to Joanne Froggatt, who starred as Anna on the now-canceled series (tissues, anyone?), the Downton Abbey movie script is written. She told This Morning hosts this week that the whole of the Downton cast has heard the rumor that the script is written and locked up tight, although no one has yet been approached for the film.

There’s a hard copy somewhere but none of us have seen it or know what’s in it. So we’ll all keep out fingers crossed that it all comes together. We’re all willing it to happen. I’d absolutely jump at the chance to star in it if I’m asked. I’ll squeeze it in.

 

While no one has been approached, that didn’t stop Michael Fox, who played Andy Parker in the series, from spilling the beans on the return of the Dowager Countess, played to absolute perfection by the wonderful Dame Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall). According to Fox,

She elevates it to something else, because she is such a legend and a national treasure. The film without her would still be good with all the other actors, but it puts a stamp of quality with her in it.

We again stress that this is simply rumor, especially due to Smith’s response on The Graham Norton Show regarding a return to Downton:

I can’t – what age would she be?

 

 

Sounds like only time will tell, but we really hope she signs on for the film because who wouldn’t want more of Lady Violet’s sass? In the mean time, you can catch Smith on Monday as she introduces Prince Charles at the Pride of Britain Awards. The award show will take place at London’s Grosvenor House and will honor young people who have turned their lives around for the better and also helped others to do the same.

Finally, we take a look at the new comedy series The Great Indoors, which stars Stephen Fry, the UK narrator for the Potter audiobooks. The actor/author spoke with Assignment X about his new role as Roland, saying,

My favorite film actors are people like Jimmy Stewart and James Cagney and Spencer Tracy. They’re always the same person. What they’re doing, though, is they’re taking away the bits of themselves that aren’t the character they’re playing. So I’m taking away the bits of me that are a Richard Wagner fan and love Noel Coward, or are slightly camp and gay. I’m finding those bits of me that are actually slightly straighter and slightly different, of which there are plenty of bits.

Fry tells the interviewer and readers why he thinks audiences will enjoy his new series, saying,

I think that it is in the great tradition of a sitcom, in that it is essentially like a family, but it’s a workplace family, and they’re not all related to each other. I think people will look at it and they’ll see themselves and they’ll laugh, and that’s I hope a good thing.

He also spoke of his fondness for his previous series, Bones, which just announced its final season, and if he would return for a guest spot in the final season.

I’m so fond of that show and the people who run it and of course for [leads] Emily [Deschanel] and David [Boreanaz], who are such wonderful people. My goodness, what is it now, twelve seasons? I mean, it’s incredible.

That wraps up this week’s Role Call! We hope you’ve enjoyed tagging along with us as we explore the new roles and projects of the Potter cast, and we encourage you to send us your thoughts on each one. Feel free to leave a comment below or send us an email if you have a tip for our Casting News columnists!