Rowling is deeply involved in the Harry Potter series and will have a say in casting

HBO is preparing for its upcoming Harry Potter TV series, and at a press conference on Tuesday, Casey Bloys, head of HBO and Max content, confirmed that JK Rowling will be involved and "very involved" in the early stages of development of the series, and will have her own opinions on the casting of the TV series.

During the Q&A session with reporters, a reporter mentioned Rowling's controversy. Since 2020, Rowling has made a series of anti-transgender remarks on the X platform, which has caused "widespread controversy." The reporter asked Casey Bloys how involved Rowling was in the series and whether her "strong views" on transgender issues affected HBO's casting process.

Bloys responded: "She was very involved. She was very involved in the selection of the writers and directors, and I think she had input on the casting. But it didn't affect the selection of actors or the hiring of writers and production team. So, we didn't feel that these (controversies) had an impact on the series."

HBO previously announced that Rowling would serve as executive producer of the series, which it said would be a "faithful adaptation" of her Harry Potter novels.

HBO announced earlier this year that it had hired Succession producers Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod as creative directors for the Harry Potter series, with Gardiner serving as showrunner and executive producer, while Mylod will serve as executive producer and director for multiple episodes.

However, the show is still looking for actors. In September, HBO released an open casting call for child actors to play Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Mark Rylance was reportedly HBO's favorite to play Dumbledore.

Mark Rylance