Kit Harington did not hesitate when the call came to join HBO’s Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart. Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Game of Thrones star said taking the part was “a very simple, ‘Yes, please!’” and admitted he is “a bit of a nerd” for the wizarding world.
His tie to the books is personal. Harington said he has listened to the Stephen Fry audiobooks every night for years because they quiet his busy brain, and he had already voiced Lockhart for Audible’s Harry Potter audiobooks before the series came his way. He steps in for Nicholas Hoult, who left the role over scheduling conflicts. Lockhart first appears in Season 2, which is now filming at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, down the road from Harington’s home.
He is a supporter of the whole idea, too, telling Horowitz the series can “delve into it further than the films did.” We are following the adaptation in our Harry Potter coverage.