The British actor has been cast as Severus Snape, the potions professor at Hogwarts. Alan Rickman played Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Essiedu earned several nominations for his role in the BBC’s I May Destroy You and costarred with Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

The production — which is currently filming its first season — has cast Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, and Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley.

Raphael Graven, also known as Jean Pormanove or JP, died following a live broadcast at his home in Contes, a village north of Nice, on Monday. The 46-year-old reportedly endured ’10 days and nights of torture’ including ‘extreme’ physical violence and sleep deprivation beforehand.