Harry Potter Studio Builds School for Child Actors on HBO Series

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, which will be the production home for HBO‘s “Harry Potter” television series, is building a temporary school so that the show’s dozens of young actors can keep up with their studies amid filming, the BBC reports. HBO announced July 15 that “Harry Potter” had officially begun production.

Per the BBC, Three Rivers District Council is permitting the studio to “use a series of portable buildings as a school facility for the next decade. The proposed classrooms have been designed to be used by up to 600 pupils during peak periods, when large crowd scenes are shot, but will typically serve about 150 students. It will operate on weekdays between 5:30am and 8:30pm so young actors can fit in their actual studies between night shoots, reshoots and location filming.”

While the planning documents did not cite “Harry Potter” by name, they did note the schools would be used for a “significant new TV series which will base itself at the studio for the next eight to 10 years.” The BBC added: “The school infrastructure will be in place for a maximum period of 10 years.”

Variety reached out to HBO for further comment.

HBO’s search for “Harry Potter” stars included 32,000 children auditions for the lead roles following an open casting call. The young actors who will need to keep up with schooling during production include Dominic McLaughlin (Harry Potter), Alastair Stout (Ron Weasley), Arabella Stanton (Hermione Granger), Lox Pratt (Draco Malfoy), Alessia Leoni (Parvati Patil), Leo Earley (Seamus Finnigan), Rory Wilmot (Neville Longbottom) and Amos Kitson (Dudley Dursley), among others.

The “Harry Potter” series will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2027.