Harry Potter icon Ralph Fiennes backs 'fantastic' star to take over Voldemort role
Ralph Fiennes previously backed Cillian Murphy to play Voldemort in the Harry Potter reboot, but now he's throwing his support behind another name.
Ralph Fiennes thinks Tilda Swinton would be a "fantastic" choice to play Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter reboot.
The HBO revival of JK Rowling's wizard saga is dropping at Christmas later this year with a whole new cast looking to recreate the magic and while a lot of actors have been revealed, fans still don't know who will be taking over Fiennes' role as the villainous leader of the Death Eaters.
Appearing on tonight's (10.04.26) episode of The Claudia Winkleman Show, Fiennes said: "I remember being asked the question, would I reprise the part? This was some years ago.
"And I said, ‘yes, I’d love to.' But then, nothing’s happened. I think that ship has sailed.
"But I tell you, Tilda Swinton was mentioned somewhere as being a contender, and I think she would be amazing. She would be fantastic.”
Swinton is known for her roles in the likes of The Deep End, The Beach, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Chronicles of Narnia film franchise.
There has been rumours she could play a gender-swapped version of Voldemort, while Cillian Murphy has also been mentioned.
Fiennes previously told Bravo's Watch What Happens Lives: "Cillian is a fantastic actor. That’s a wonderful suggestion. I would be all in favour of Cillian. Yeah."
However, in February the Peaky Blinders actor made it clear he was distancing himself from the role.
He told The Times newspaper: "I'm categorically not. Can you make that the headline?"
The Harry Potter reboot will star Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid) and Paapa Essiedu (Severus Snape) have also been cast.
The new series will launch later this year with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, meaning each season will be named after the respective book.
Meanwhile, it's been confirmed that production is already underway on the second season, the Chamber of Secrets.
HBO and HBO Max chief executive Casey Bloys told The Sunday Times newspaper: “Our goal is to not have a huge gap, you know, especially because the kids are growing. It’s not going to be an annual; the show is too big and too massive. But … they’re writing the season two now.”
