J.K. Rowling’s Casual Vacancy HBO/BBC Miniseries Picks Up A Slew Of British Actors

Did we expect anything less? 

Originally it was reported J.K. Rowling’s Casual Vacancy would be adapted by the BBC. Then it was reported it would be airing as a three-episode mini-series on HBO. Turns out, they’re working together as one big happy family, so that’s good news. Better news? The cast they’ve hired.

The Hollywood Reporter say Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan and Julia McKenzie have all signed on.

We knew they’d slip at least one Harry Potter actor in there, right? Or just statistically speaking. We’re still hoping for a Dame Maggie Smith cameo. THR writes:

Gambon is set to play Howard Mollison, owner of the Pagford delicatessen, with McKenzie (Notes on a Scandal) playing his wife, Shirley.

Mollison’s son Miles is being played by Rufus Jones (BBC’sW1A) with his wife played by Hawes (BBC’s Line of Duty).

Kinnear (Skyfall, Penny Dreadful), who recently won an Olivier Award, the British version of the Tony Awards, for best actor, will portray a character by the name of Barry Fairbrother.

Dolan (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Sightseers), Simon McBurney (Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy), Richard Glover (A Field in England) and Michelle Austin (Secrets & Lies) have also joined the cast.

In other Rowling-related news, Harry Potter alum Emma Watson is in talks to star with Miles Teller in a musical called La La Land. The Wrap writes, ““La La Land” is a two-hander that follows a pair of dreamers — aspiring actress Mia, who’s lonely desperate to fit in, and cocky yet charismatic jazz pianist Sebastian — who fall in love in Los Angeles. However, the city that brought them together may tear them apart, as they soon discover that balancing love and art in such a cutthroat climate isn’t easy.”

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Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

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