HBO’s Original Ginny Weasley Star Directly Addresses Season 2 Replacement

Published Sep 5, 2026, 3:09 PM EDT

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

Harry Potter's new Ginny Weasley receives a message from her predecessor.

Season 1 of HBO's Harry Potter cast features Gracie Cochran in the role of Ginny. The young actor and her family later shared that "due to unforeseen circumstances, Gracie has made the challenging decision to step away from her role as Ginny Weasley in the HBO Harry Potter series after season one." It was announced yesterday that Bonnie Hill will be taking over the role for season 2, with her casting revealed alongside Billy Barratt as young Tom Riddle and Lenny Rush as Dobby.

On Instagram, Cochrane posted "Handing over the wand" and "Good luck" alongside a moving wand and the image of Hill that was used in the official casting announcement. Check out the post below:

Cochrane's show of support is a positive gesture and one that can help assuage any concerns fans have about the recast. Additionally, while this is the series' first recast, it is not the only one that has occurred so far. Nicholas Hoult was originally slated to play Gilderoy Lockhart in season 2, which is in the midst of filming, but had to exit the project due to scheduling issues. Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who voiced Lockhart in Audible's full-cast audio adaptations, is now playing the character instead.

With a large and steadily expanding cast of child and adult actors, and filming future seasons before the next one is even released, Ginny and Lockhart probably won't be the last characters who need to be recast. Several actors from the Harry Potter movies were also recast, including Michael Gambon taking over as Albus Dumbledore after the death of Richard Harris, along with Ralph Fiennes playing Voldemort after the villain was originally portrayed by Richard Bremer and voiced by Ian Hart.

Bonnie Wright played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.

While the Dumbledore recast was very noticeable in the films due to the prominence of the role, Ginny's recasting likely won't be as jarring. This has nothing to do with Cochrane but with the fact that in the first Harry Potter book, Ginny has a small role. She appears when the Weasleys meet Harry at King's Cross Station, but is a year away from attending Hogwarts alongside her older brothers and absent for the majority of the story.

Ginny has a much larger role in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the book season 2 is adapting, since she is in her first year at Hogwarts and is deeply connected to the central mystery. Between being a key member of Dumbledore's Army, joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and becoming romantically involved with Harry, her role will continue to expand in future seasons.

As for the returning stars joining Hill in Harry Potter season 2, they include Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, and Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley.

HBO's Harry Potter premieres on December 25.

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  Dominic McLaughlin

  Harry Potter

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  Janet McTeer

  Minerva McGonagall

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  Albus Dumbledore

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  Nick Frost

  Hagrid