Gary Oldman thinks HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series may deliver something the original Warner Bros. films could not: a fuller version of J.K. Rowling’s books.
Oldman, who played Sirius Black across four “Harry Potter” movies, said in a recent interview with EW that the television adaptation is positioned to be “more satisfying” for viewers because it can include far more of the material that was trimmed from the films.
“We had to cut a lot [for the ‘Harry Potter’ movies], and still we could only get the films down to, like, three hours,” Oldman said, noting that “a lot of character detail was sacrificed” in the process. “I believe [the HBO series is] gonna do it pretty much word-for-word, which I think, as a viewer, would be more satisfying.”
The comment lands as HBO’s “Harry Potter” series moves closer to its debut. Season 1 has wrapped and is set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Dec. 25. A second season, based on the second book in Rowling’s fantasy series, is currently in pre-production at Leavesden Studios outside London.
Oldman’s Sirius Black reflections
Oldman has been candid before about feeling that Sirius Black did not have enough room in the films. In 2024, he told IndieWire, “He wasn’t in it enough. He turned up and then he went through the veil.”
His version of Sirius first appeared in 2004’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” According to the source record, the character then had only cameos in “Goblet of Fire” and “Deathly Hallows Part 2,” plus a brief appearance in “Order of the Phoenix” before Sirius is killed off.
Even with those limitations, Oldman told EW he remains “proud” and “grateful” to have been part of the “Harry Potter” films, describing the franchise as “such a phenomenon, the like of which I don’t think you’re ever gonna see again.”
He also singled out director Chris Columbus when reflecting on the original screen ensemble. “When you think of that initial cast, someone in the story who doesn’t get a lot of credit anymore is [director] Chris Columbus, who set the world up and cast it,” Oldman said. “We were extraordinarily lucky to have those people come back again, and again, and again, and literally grow into those roles.”
Oldman has also previously addressed his own criticism of his performance as Sirius. After once calling his work in the movies “mediocre,” he later clarified in 2024 that he did not mean to “disparage anyone out there who are fans of ‘Harry Potter’ and the films and the character who I think is much beloved.”
“What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work,” he told Variety in 2024. “If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, ‘My God, I’m fantastic in this,’ that would be a sad day.”
Where HBO’s series stands
HBO has not announced who will play Sirius Black in the new series. The confirmed cast includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
The ensemble also includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy.
For Oldman, the central difference between the film version and the HBO version appears to be format. The movies, by his account, required significant compression even at roughly three hours, while the series is expected to allow for more of the books’ character detail to make it to the screen.
Before audiences see HBO’s “Harry Potter,” Oldman will next appear in Season 6 of Apple TV’s “Slow Horses,” which premieres Sept. 16.