Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost is playing one of the most beloved Harry Potter characters for the new HBO TV show

Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead
(Image credit: Universal)

The cast of the Harry Potter TV show is growing. Longtime comedy star Nick Frost is reportedly going to portray Hogwarts caretaker Hagrid in the upcoming adaptation.

This comes from Deadline, which states a deal is getting close for Frost to join the school for witchcraft and wizardry. He's the fourth major actor to be lined up for the production after John Lithgow, who’s portraying Professor Dumbledore, Janet McTeer, who'll be playing Professor McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu, who's stepping into the role of Professor Snape.

Frost rose to prominence in the mid-2000s for being Simon Pegg's recurring screen partner in several movies, including Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End. Those three, directed by Edgar Wright, form the Cornetto Trilogy, a set of standalone genre films, each featuring Frost and Pegg in different roles.

Their success is what propelled Frost into the mainstream, where he's had roles in The Adventures of Tintin, The Huntsman movies, Fighting With My Family, and plenty more besides. He's actually back on the big screen quite soon, with a part in the How to Train Your Dragon live-action upcoming movie coming out on June 13, 2025.

The Harry Potter TV series is intended as a decade-long commitment, to cover the seven books of Harry's time in Hogwarts. It's being produced by HBO for Max, which means it'll likely be available on Sky for British viewers.

The approach is considerably different from the Harry Potter movies starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Beyond being a different medium, the cast is utilizing American talent, when the original films resolutely used British actors.

Francesca Gardiner, a former producer on Succession and His Dark Materials, is writer and showrunner, and Mark Mylod is director and executive producer. There's no release schedule as it's still early days in production, but it appears everything is coming together. In the meantime, why not catch up on the best shows on Max?

It is important to note that the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series has been the subject of criticism and debate due to the show's executive producer and author J.K. Rowling's very public and harmful stance on gender identity. It was a similar situation with the Hogwarts Legacy launch. For more, read more about the Hogwarts Legacy controversy.

CATEGORIES
Anthony McGlynn
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
John Lithgow
Shrek and Interstellar star John Lithgow to play Dumbledore in HBO's Harry Potter TV show
John Lithgow
The Harry Potter TV show's Dumbledore star John Lithgow says it "was not an easy decision" to sign on to the HBO reboot
Harry Potter
Harry Potter director thinks Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy would be a perfect Voldemort in new TV show
Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter
Jason Isaacs says Meryl Streep should play Lucius Malfoy in HBO's Harry Potter series: "She can do anything"
Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs says the films weren't "much fun to make" because "it's quite boring making big special effects films"
Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter
Harry Potter is getting a surprise collaboration with one of Japan's longest-running anime
Latest in Fantasy Shows
Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost is playing one of the most beloved Harry Potter characters for the new HBO TV show
Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter
Jason Isaacs says Meryl Streep should play Lucius Malfoy in HBO's Harry Potter series: "She can do anything"
Kratos in God of War Ragnarök
God of War TV show writer reveals Amazon has already ordered two seasons, and that he can’t play the video games at all
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Percy Jackson series gets unusually early renewal for season 3 before upcoming season 2 even airs
George R.R. Martin
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has a new update on The Winds of Winter: "I wish it would come faster"
Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg and Peter Claffey as Dunk in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
HBO boss says new Game of Thrones spin-off's battles "match" the mainline series at a "fraction of the price"
Latest in News
A big mech's lost its limbs in a screenshot from Mecharashi.
Dev of cancelled Front Mission game wants to resolve Square Enix's copyright lawsuit "amicably" by swapping assets in its new strategy game
Everybody's Golf Hot Shots
The surprise theme of today's Nintendo Direct was classic PlayStation franchises getting a comeback without Sony's involvement
Hogwarts Legacy how many spells
Unannounced Hogwarts Legacy DLC reportedly canceled, partly because the studio wasn't sure it'd be worth players' money
Ultimate X-Men #14
Ultimate X-Men #14 pays homage to a classic Wolverine moment as the Shadow King returns
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Ubisoft reaches deal with Tencent to create $4.3 billion mini-Ubisoft subsidiary to "spearhead development" on new Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last Of Us season 2
The Last of Us showrunner says he isn't worried about fan reaction to season 2: "The best way we could respect our fans and honor them is to not worry about them"