Rumor: ‘Harry Potter’ TV series eyes Mark Rylance to play Dumbledore.

In a recent Variety report, they said that British actor Mark Rylance is at the top of the casting wish-list for the new HBO “Harry Potter” adaptation. According to their sources, Mark Rylance, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor in 2016 for his work on Steven Spielberg’s “Bridge Of Spies”, is in the mix for the role of Hogwarts’s headmaster- Albus Dumbledore.

Warner Bros. Television hasn’t yet entered into negotiations with the actor, but the studio has reached out to gauge interest and availability.

Representatives for HBO told Variety: “We appreciate that such a high profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation. As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.”

While, the leads for the seven season show — Harry, Ron and Hermione — will likely be newcomers, with Warner Bros. launching an open casting call for kids aged between 9 and 11 (like they did with the original film adaptations) earlier in the year, hopefully like the original feature film adaptations, Warner Bros will look to populate the adult cast with some of the U.K’s best-known actors.

One challenge will be finding talent who are willing to commit to a potential seven seasons, and who are the right age to see it through. Richard Harris was 70 when he took on the role of Dumbledore and died two years later, having completed only the first two films. He was replaced by Michael Gambon for the remainder of the series. Rylance is currently 64 years old.

Earlier in the year Jared Harris (son of Richard Harris) turned down the offer to play Dumbledore in the TV series. when asked by The Independent if he would want to portray Dumbledore in the TV reboot, the actor replied “no, thank you”. The “Chernobyl” actor stated “I mean why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic — leave them alone.”

Warner Bros. TV boss Channing Dungey said earlier in the year the HBO series, which was announced in 2023, will be more in-depth than the films. The series will run for seven seasons, adapting each book from the franchise.

Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve) will be the showrunner, writer and executive producer. Author J.K Rowling, who has the final say in anything related to ‘Harry Potter’ will also executive produce the series. Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will also executive produce and direct multiple episodes.

The series is set to premiere in 2026.

You can express your thoughts in the comment section below.