Event: Kit Harington

His flouncing from HBO’s Harry Potter reboot won’t buy any respite from the anti-Rowling bigots. Anyone who has balanced a job with a social life will, at some point, have phoned the boss at 9.05am and croaked through a beery fug: ‘I’m not sure I’ll make it in today. I’ve come down with a cold.’ It’s a game: no one believes it, but both sides must go through the charade of pretending they do. Actor Nicholas Hoult appears to have taken a similar approach to his work. As soon as he was cast as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of HBO’s Harry Potter, trans activists began hounding him for joining JK Rowling’s franchise. Thirteen days after the announcement, Hoult pulled out. The official explanation given this week was ‘scheduling conflicts’. Other cast members have found a way to condemn Rowling without suffering the financial inconvenience of leaving her franchise. Bel Powley, who plays Petunia Dursley, has made it clear she ‘strongly disagrees’ with the Harry Potter creator; Nick Frost, cast as Hagrid, says their views 'don’t align in any way, shape or form’; and Paapa Essiedu, the new Snape, has promised he would sign an open letter supporting trans activists. John Lithgow, who plays Dumbledore, finds Rowling’s position 'ironic and somewhat inexplicable'. None, however, finds it objectionable enough to hand back the cheque, unlike Hoult. Hoult perhaps faced additional pressure. His sexually ambiguous turn as Tony Stonem in Skins earned him a clique of obsessive, self-identified ‘queer’ fans, and news of his casting as Lockhart sent the trans press into mourning. Less than a fortnight of wailing later, his diary had mysteriously filled up. PinkNews blubbed that LGBTQ+ fans had been left ‘disappointed’. Not to be outdone, Them magazine howled that Hoult had burned ‘queer goodwill’, adding: ‘The…

Kit Harington is joining the highly anticipated Harry Potter TV series as the wizarding world's celebrity-turned-Hogwarts instructor Gilderoy Lockhart.X-Men star Nicholas Hoult was originally cast in the second series earlier this month but has now left due to scheduling issues, according to HBO.Best known for playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, Harington also appears in BBC and HBO financial drama Industry. The star previously voiced Lockhart in an audio version of Harry Potter."I'm a huge Potter fan. I've got to be honest, he's one of my favourite characters," Harington told Collider, external. "So, to be offered to play him is a real dream. I've had a taste of him [in the audiobook] and felt my way around him. He's just a wonderful creation."Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is due to premiere this Christmas on HBO Max. Season two will adapt the second book in the series by JK Rowling, The Chamber of Secrets, which chronicles Potter's second year at the magical school."Before we begin year two at Hogwarts, there has been a slight change due to schedule: Kit Harington will be stepping into the role of Gilderoy Lockhart," an HBO statement said, external.The new series adaptation of the best-selling books stars newcomer Dominic McLaughlin as the boy wizard, Alastair Stout as his best friend Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as the young witch Hermione Granger. Oscar-nominated actor Jon Lithgow has been cast as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Nick Frost will play gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid.