Jason Isaacs shares ‘terrible confession’ about Harry Potter films

It might ruin the magic of the franchise. Jason Isaacs has divulged a “terrible confession” about the Harry Potter films. The actor, who currently stars in season three of HBO’s The White Lotus, is perhaps best known to the masses as playing the villainous Lucius Malfoy in six film adaptations of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World books.

While the depiction of flying cars, classroom spells and Quidditch has had the world in a chokehold for decades, the actor burst the bubble during an appearance on BBC series The One Show, telling the hosts: “They weren’t that much fun to make.”.

The British star acknowledged that this was “a terrible confession to make” due to the strength of the fandom – but he elaborated by saying: “It’s quite boring making big special effects films.”. Isaacs did not have the same experience while sitting down to watch the films, though, with the actor stating: “The pleasures all come afterward. I see and meet people for whom their lives were changed by it, and still people reading it and sharing it with their children.

“Some people say their lives were saved by it, and I believe it.”. Isaacs said that he loves being a part of the franchise so much that when he visits the Harry Potter sets at the Warner Bros studio tour, he “bursts into tears”. “Even though I was in the films, when I’ve taken godchildren or nephews and nieces to the [studio tour] and the thing comes up and suddenly you’re in the Great Hall, every time, I burst out in tears,” he said.

“It’s incredibly moving and overwhelming. There’s some magic that happened in those stories.”. He continued: “Something happened, who knows why, when those ingredients came together and the soufflé rose and it created just love around the world and a sense of inclusion.”.

Potter fever is sweeping Hollywood all over again thanks to a high-profile TV series that’ll be on screens for a decade. HBO and Warner Bros are behind the new project, which, in their own words, is “drawing a lot of rumour and speculation” about who will play the show’s primary characters.

The new series will be another direct adaptation of Rowling’s book franchise, with each book comprising one season. This means that a new batch of actors will be portraying roles previously played by stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith.

Casting calls for the three young leads opened in September 2024, with unknowns set to become household names after being cast in the roles of Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. But well-known actors are being scouted for the older character, with the only confirmed casting to date being John Lithgow, who’ll play Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.