Did Nicholas Hoult drop out of Harry Potter role due to backlash? Kit Harrington takes over role in shock announcement

Instead, the Skins and X-Men star, who was due to play teacher Gilderoy Lockhart in season two of HBO’s small-screen adaptation, will be replaced by Kit Harington.Hoult’s casting was announced just two weeks ago, when it was initially revealed that the British actor, 36, would take on the role originated by Kenneth Branagh in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.But on Monday 24 August, a post was shared on the official Harry Potter Instagram page announcing that Game of Thrones and Industry’s Harington, 39, would be stepping into the role instead.Hoult will no longer appear in the Harry Potter seriesPA WireThe post cited “a slight change due to schedule” as Hoult’s reason for leaving the show.However, the cast of the TV series – Hoult included – have been met with significant backlash due to franchise author JK Rowling’s outspoken gender critical views.While Rowling has always denied being transphobic, a number of the stars of the Harry Potter series have publicly distanced themselves from her comments since their casting was announced.“I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance,” she told The Telegraph.Harington will now be taking on the role of Professor Lockhart in season twoGettyJohn Lithgow, who is starring as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, also admitted that he found Rowling’s views to be “ironic and somewhat inexplicable”, given the books message about “kindness versus cruelty”.The Harry Potter series comes to HBO on 25 December and aims to be a faithful adaptation of Rowling’s novels, with the first series adapted from Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.The three key characters, young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, will be played by Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton.Read MoreOther famous faces appearing in the series include Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley and Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy.