Kit Harington Cast In ‘Harry Potter’ Season 2 as Gilderoy Lockhart, Replacing Nicholas Hoult

Kit Harington is returning to HBO, but this time, he’s going to be very blond.

via: Variety

Kit Harington will now play Gilderoy Lockhart in Season 2 of HBO‘s “Harry Potter” series, replacing Nicholas Hoult, who exited the production due to scheduling conflicts.

The “Game of Thrones” star recently voiced Lockhart, who is central to the plot of second book “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” in Audible’s “Harry Potter” audiobooks late last year. Lockhart, a famous yet arrogant wizard known for his many heroic acts, becomes the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts — and it’s soon made clear that he isn’t qualified for the job. He was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 “Chamber of Secrets” film.

Speaking to Variety about the audiobooks in December, self-proclaimed “Harry Potter” nerd Harington said he fell in love with J.K. Rowling’s books as a kid and has reread them many times since.

“It was a really simple yes, because I love the character,” Harington said of agreeing to voice Lockhart in the audiobooks. “As far as cameos in a series go, you don’t get much more entertaining and fun to do as an actor than Gilderoy Lockhart. It was a no-brainer.”

More to come…