Key Points
HBO’s Harry Potter series will include a fan-favorite character who was previously cut from the films.
British comedian Peter Serafinowicz has been cast as Peeves the Poltergeist.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone director Chris Columbus has called cutting Peeves one of his “biggest regrets” from the film.
Hogwarts has finally found its onscreen poltergeist.
HBO’s Harry Potter series won’t be repeating a certain controversial decision made for the films: Peeves, the troublemaking ghost who wreaks havoc on young wizards, will be roaming the halls of Hogwarts when the new adaptation kicks off on Christmas Day.
Entertainment Weekly has learned that British comedian Peter Serafinowicz has been cast as Peeves the Poltergeist in the upcoming series.
Serafinowicz, who voiced Darth Maul in the first Star Wars prequel Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, is also known for roles in Shaun of the Dead, How to Train Your Dragon, Parks and Recreation, John Wick: Chapter 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy.
This casting announcement is particularly exciting for fans of the franchise as the fan-favorite ghost was cut out of the original Harry Potter movies.
Peter Serafinowicz attends the 27th British Independent Film Awards at the Roundhouse on Dec. 8, 2024
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage
As Peeves, Serafinowicz will be a source of chaos. The ghostly character doesn’t have a particularly significant role in the story, but is a constant nuisance in the tapestry of Hogwarts with antics that include throwing things, making messes, pulling pranks, and generally causing mischief that enrages caretaker Argus Filch.
While absent from the films, Peeves has appeared in several video game adaptations of the movies, as well as the open world RPG, Hogwarts Legacy.
Peeves was originally set to appear in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone but the character was cut in post-production. Chris Columbus, who directed the first two films in the franchise, has said the decision to cut Peeves was “one of [his] biggest regrets about the first movie.”
British comedian Rik Mayall (of The Young Ones and Drop Dead Fred) previously revealed in 2011 that he spent three weeks filming as Peeves.
“I did a little bit of filming then I went home and got the money — significant — then a month later they said ‘Rik, sorry about this, you’re not in the film,'” Mayall, who died at 56 in 2014, said at the time.
He added that he never got around to telling his kids that he had been cut from the film — but luckily, they didn’t notice. “They came back and said, ‘It’s bloody good make-up. You didn’t look like yourself at all, Dad, it’s really good,'” he said, then explained, “They thought I was playing Hagrid.”
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HBO’s Harry Potter, planned as a seven-season journey with each season tackling one of the seven novels, has long purported to “go deeper” than the films. The series stars Dominic McLaughlin in the titular role, with Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. John Lithgow plays Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore, with Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Professor Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
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