I grew up on Harry Potter. Up until J.K. Rowling outed herself as a massive unfeeling douchcanoe, I adored the stories she put to page, and I spent much of my youth reading, re-reading, and obsessively watching the franchise she created.
I have a million praises and criticisms for the films her books inspired, but one of my biggest criticisms — one I’ve held onto since Lupin was introduced in 2004 — is the casting of Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. The quartet of once-rambunctious teens was a target of fascination for me, so I awaited their big-screen debut with bated breath.
And what I got was not what I wanted. Don’t misunderstand me — I think David Thewlis, along with Gary Oldman and Timothy Spall, did a wonderful job in their roles. They were convincing, and engaging, and well-meaning, but to be perfectly honest, they weren’t hot enough for me. I wanted a steamy werewolf zaddy to come sauntering through the Hogwarts Express, not the tweed Uncle Jerry I got.
Sirius was even worse. He’s a bad boy, a criminal, a supposed murderer, but in reality, he’s the stalwart, passionate, and sometimes manic bestie of James Potter, and he should have been played by a hottie. An Aidan Turner, a Lee Pace, even a Benicio del Toro could have injected the role with the appropriate amount of sex appeal. Instead, we got the weird half-bald bad guy from The Fifth Element.
The reason behind this decision was completely understandable, however, so I couldn’t really be upset. The filmmakers wanted Alan Rickman as Severus Snape — a decision no one, ever, anywhere, will complain about — and as such they had to cast similarly-aged actors as his one-time peers. The result was a bunch of average white dudes who did not stoke my teenage interests (or my adult interests) one bit.
But it looks like the utterly unnecessary and ghoulishly money-hungry HBO reboot of Harry Potter is doing at least one thing right, as it begins to eye the stars who will surely fall far short of their recent predecessors. Rumors are swirling about a potential pick for the role of Snape, and girl I am so on board.
Reports allege that 31-year-old Edward Bluemel is being considered for the role of Hogwarts’ irritable potions master, and he couldn’t fit the bill better. All harsh angles and contrasts, Bluemel is starkly attractive, but not in a conventional way. If you ask me, that suits our boy Sev spectacularly, and it bodes well for the future casting of my poor done-dirty Marauders.
If WB knows what’s good for it, it will do two things here. One, it will cast attractive and enticing actors in the roles of Snape, Sirius, Lupin, and James (sorry Peter, you’re always going to be a bit weasel-adjacent), and two, it will embark on a spin-off exploring the fascinating backstory that brought this group of young wizards together.
Bluemel would be a great start to that. He’s young enough to lure in young viewers who, like a teenaged Nahila, wanted nothing more than some aged-up eye candy, but old enough to be convincing as someone James Potter’s age. He’s also got just the right balance of suave foreboding and edgy attraction, something that should suit the sour-faced Snape quite well.
Bluemel also comes with a nice balance of experience and fresh-faced intrigue, with only seven cinematic appearances under his belt — many of them short films — but a nice bulky array of television credits to his name. You may not recognize him (yet) but if you do, you probably know Bluemel from his work on A Discovery of Witches, Killing Eve, or Netflix’s Sex Education.
And if you’ve never seen any of the above, and Bluemel is completely new to you, welcome. You’re bound to remember him now.
The casting of WB’s new Harry Potter project is still in the earliest stages, so it’s entirely fair to treat the reports of Bluemel’s involvement as nothing but hopeful rumors. Should they turn out to be true, however, a fair few people — myself included — may tune in purely to get an eyeful of the Half-Blood Prince.