Harry Potter TV: How the team at HBO will work with young actors growing up

One of the special things about the Harry Potter film series was seeing the growth and maturing of the children involved. They started as nervous-looking students who were taken aback by announcements of deadly peril on the third floor of the castle, but finished the story as bold young adults. They were always too young to tackle the war that involved them, but they found themselves equal to the task in the fiction and the real-life actors grew into capable and savvy artists. HBO chairman anticipating the concern over how this would be handled in the anticipated TV series, addressed the matter in a recent press conference.

"It's a consideration"

September of this year saw a casting call going out for children who "will be 9 to 11 years old and can feasibly play kid wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger" says TVLine. Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO, says that they have considered the "big jump in kids' lives" that happens between the ages of 11 and 13. "One of the ideas we talked about was shooting the first season and the second season very close to each other time-wise."

The original plan was to release the series in 2026, but Bloys comments that "we're just getting started in the writing and casting process." TVLine elaborates that "HBO...made a 10-year commitment to the project, but it has yet to be clarified whether the show will span 10 seasons or simply be on the air for 10 total years, regardless of season count."

With such a monumental task ahead of the company that already tackled series such series as A Song of Ice and Fire and His Dark Materials, it's understandable for them to still have details to work out. Says Bloys, "I think an annual schedule will be tough, but it depends on how much is written ahead of time."

We will cover more news about the series as it is released, but look forward to putting and names and faces to the characters.