PottermoreAs time goes by, Pottermania gets larger and larger.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn't hit theaters until next November, but now Harry Potter fans can bide their time with the first look at the stars of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in their costumes. J.K. Rowling's Pottermore released the images of Harry Potter, Ginny Potter (née Weasley) and Albus Severus Potter only a week before the first preview of the play.
Jamie Parker, who is cast as The Boy Who Lived, "is simply Harry now," Rowling said. "There's a kind of relief in watching him, he gets it so right."
Sam Clemmett plays Albus Potter, while Poppy Miller is Ginny.
Although these pictures make it clear that Harry won't be wearing his Hogwarts robes, the play does keep in tact his famous lighting bolt scar. "He's wearing a suit because he's a Ministry man, but he's not just a bloke in a suit, that's way too anonymous," Parker explains. "And it sounds strange but we talked around a lot of different suits, because there are suits and suits, and a lot of them we put on and we went, 'Mmm it's just not right'."
Clemmett opens up about his robes, and in pure Harry Potter fashion, they're hand-me-downs. "This is what Albus wears at the start of the show," he reveals. "I had the idea he was wearing James'—his older brother's—hand-me-downs. So I wanted him to feel quite uncomfortable, and be able to play with his clothes."
Even though the cast is privy to what's going on in the play, they're also learning new things every day, so even they're as surprised as the fans. "We are very excited about sharing the play with everyone who is coming," Miller shares. "All of us are seeing things every day, what other people are doing for the first time on stage, that's making us squeal with excitement. So, bring it on!"
Pottermore also released the first portraits of Ron Weasley (Paul Thornley), Hermione Granger (Noma Dumezweni) and Rose Granger-Weasley (Cherrelle Skeete).
"It's 19 years later when the play begins," Thornley shares. "Ron is married to Hermione Granger and they're now the Granger-Weasleys. Our magnificent daughter Rose Granger-Weasley is about to start at Hogwarts, which is obviously a big day for everyone."
Rowling previously shut down criticism about Hermione's casting when people complained that Dumezweni's skin tone didn't match the films'. "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione," the author wrote on Twitter.