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Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Art, AI, HBO, TV and Film
With the Harry Potter HBO series on the way, now would be a good time to try and imagine how the characters in the beloved films perhaps should have looked, if they were to look entirely as they are described in J.K. Rowling's books.
It's hard to imagine anyone other than the golden trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint portraying Harry, Hermione and Ron, but that will soon become a reality when the new TV series lands in 2026.
While the author does take issue with the three actors due to off-screen arguments, she is an executive producer on the new show and so is now free to offer all the advice she wants when it comes to casting.
We've already seen John Lithgow confirmed as the actor to play Dumbledore, while Nick Frost is also reportedly in talks to play Hagrid, both of whom could easily be imagined in the film series and perhaps also fit the book descriptions.
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Academy award winner Paapa Essiedu is reportedly the man to play Severus Snape, and it would be fair to suggest that he might be far too handsome to fit JK's original description of the Potions teacher as 'a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth.' He also has the seemingly impossible task of following the brilliant Alan Rickman into that role, so it will be interesting to see how he is portrayed in the upcoming series.
Fortunately, for those of you who haven't read the books, an artist has put together some realistic drawings of how the best-known characters should look in real life. And, while some are close, others are a long way off.
MsBananaAnna is a Vietnamese artist, and has used artificial intelligence to assist her character portraits that were drawn based on their descriptions in the books.
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First up is Snape, once again showing just how perfectly cast Rickman was, as he looks almost identical to the drawing.
Another example of how well cast Helena Bonham Carter was as she clearly did justice to the book description with her often terrifying portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange - the death eater who tortured the parents of Neville Longbottom. While Game of Thrones actor Lena Headey has been touted as a fan casting, there aren't any sources to suggest who might play the witch yet, as after all, she presumably won't appear until well into the series.
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Emma Watson might well be the perfect Hermione when it comes to her personality but it seems as if the British actress was far too attractive for the role, if we're going off the book description, which tells of her large front teeth and bushy brown hair. Again we haven't yet had confirmation on which lucky kids will be the ones to play any of the main three characters, but reportedly over 30,000 showed up to auditions.
'Red hair and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley'. There seemingly isn't much you need to be other than ginger in order to play Ron, and Grint certainly looks the part - even if the artwork does make him look a bit more gangly.
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Last, but certainly not least, we have Harry Potter and piercing green eyes (which were his mother's I believe) aside, Daniel Radcliffe did a fantastic job both acting and looking like Harry. Fans will be eagerly awaiting more news of the cast for the upcoming HBO series to see if the three kids chosen can also go on to inspire a new generation.