HBO‘s Harry Potter series has been chugging away in the background for a number of months, now. And we’ve gotten some sneak peeks here and there, drip fed to us, like Dominic McLaughlin and Nick Frost as Harry and Hagrid, or the Weasley family at King’s Cross Station. But now, a set video from last week may have dropped something of a bombshell: an expanded role for a young James and Lily Potter in the narrative. The video, captured by a lurker in Wardown Park in Luton, England, shows two unidentified actors who would absolutely appear to be dead ringers for the book descriptions of a young James and Lily Potter. We say young, what we mean is age appropriate, because the deaths of the Potters come when the pair are just in their very early 20s.

Now, why is this important? Well, in the books, we know a little bit more about the Potters and their life in Godric’s Hollow, but the films give us very little. In fact, besides a shot of the pair in the Mirror of Erised, all we really see of them between The Sorcerer’s Stone and Order of the Phoenix is them getting murdered by Voldemort, and a quick glance at them dancing, for some reason, in Prisoner of Azkaban. The pair define Harry’s desire to grow up and do right by them, so it’s only right that we, as viewers, get to see more of them and examine why their deaths at such a young age are as tragic.

Who Played James and Lily Potter in the Movies?

Lily Potter was primarily played by Geraldine Somerville throughout the series (in flashbacks, photographs, and memories). A younger version of Lily appears briefly in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, portrayed by Ellie Darcey-Alden. James Potter was primarily played by Adrian Rawlins in the films. A younger James also appears in Order of the Phoenix, portrayed by Robbie Jarvis.

In J.K. Rowling’s books, James and Lily died at age 21, murdered by Voldemort in 1981. This has always been a striking point in the story: Harry’s parents were barely out of school themselves, essentially children raising a child. But in the films, Rawlins and Somerville were in their mid-to-late 30s when they played the roles, and they appeared even older on-screen (closer to middle-aged parents). This made them look more like they were in their 40s when they died, not early 20s.

In the films, however, the actors looked like experienced, middle-aged parents — which some argue diminished the emotional punch and distorted how young Harry’s parents really were when they died. Now, it seems, HBO are setting it right.

Harry Potter will premiere in 2027.

via Collider