HBO's "Harry Potter" Hogwarts faculty revealed 

The American television network HBO revealed this afternoon (Monday) the cast members selected to portray the faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in its television adaptation of the "Harry Potter" book series. John Lithgow ("The Old Man," "The Crown") will play Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer ("Ozark," "Albert Nobbs") will portray Minerva McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu ("The Lazarus Project," "I May Destroy You") has been cast as Severus Snape.

The casting of Essiedu as Snape caused an uproar. Some fans accused the producers of subscribing to a classic woke narrative. "You can't just swap out character designs like it's a video game," one fan wrote on X, while another argued, "Some characters are so iconic, changing them feels like rewriting history."

Also cast in the series are Nick Frost ("Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz") as Rubeus Hagrid, Luke Thompson ("Bridgerton") as Quirinius Quirrell, and actor Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.

"We are delighted to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thompson, and Paul Whitehouse for the series," said Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod on behalf of the show’s producers. "We are thrilled with the exceptional talent cast for the production and cannot wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life."

These are the first castings revealed for the highly anticipated series from the American television network. For the lead roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, HBO issued a casting call in September that received over 30,000 submissions. According to reports, filming for the series is expected to begin this summer at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire.

Two years ago, the website Deadline first reported that Warner Bros. Discovery had begun working on a television adaptation of the successful book series. According to the report, each book in the series will be dedicated an entire season.

Kann contributed to this article.