“I think that ship has sailed,” Fiennes said of the possibility of returning as the Dark Lord.

Ralph Fiennes won’t star in *Harry Potter *HBO show — but he has an ‘amazing’ idea for who should play Voldemort

"I think that ship has sailed," Fiennes said of the possibility of returning as the Dark Lord.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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April 11, 2026 6:44 p.m. ET

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Ralph Fiennes in 2011's 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2'. Credit:

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Ralph Fiennes says he won't reprise his role as He Who Must Not Be Named — but he's rooting for another acclaimed actor to take on the role.

The *Conclave* star addressed the possibility of returning to play Lord Voldemort for HBO's upcoming *Harry Potter* series in an interview this week.

"Well, I remember being asked the question once we'd shot the total film series 'would I reprise the part?' and this was some years ago," Fiennes recalled on Friday's episode of *The Claudia Winkleman Show, *"and I said, 'Yes, I'd love to.'"

Despite Fiennes' willingness to rejoin the wizarding world, he said no efforts were made to bring him back as Voldemort. "But then nothing's happened," he said. "I think that ship has sailed."

Ralph Fiennes in 2025.

Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty

Still, Fiennes is enthusiastic about the idea of one of his former costars donning you-know-who's robes. "Tilda Swinton was mentioned somewhere as being a contender," Fiennes said in the interview, "and I think she would be amazing."

Swinton is no stranger to playing sorceresses. She previously portrayed the White Witch in *The Chronicles of Narnia *movies and the Ancient One in Marvel's *Doctor Strange*, as well as other kinds of supernatural characters in films like *Only Lovers Left Alive*, *The Dead Don't Die*, *Suspiria*, *Constantine*, and *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio*.

Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton in 2016.

Jim Spellman/WireImage

Swinton and Fiennes appeared in three films together in the mid-2010s: Luca Guadagnino's *A Bigger Splash*, Wes Anderson's *The Grand Budapest Hotel*, and the Coen brothers' *Hail Caesar*.

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The *Harry Potter* series has yet to announce its choice for Voldemort. The villainous wizard appears briefly in a half-disembodied form in the first book, *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, and as a young Hogwarts student in flashbacks in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*.

However, Voldemort's full corporeal form does not emerge until the fourth book in the series, *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* — the adaptation of which marked Fiennes' first appearance in the film series. Since the forthcoming HBO show will adapt one *Potter* book per season, it may still be several years away from casting a full-time Voldemort.

One actor who is decidedly *not* in the running to play Voldemort is Cillian Murphy, who emphatically denied rumors that he would portray the Dark Lord. "I'm categorically not," the *Oppenheimer* star told the U.K. outlet *The Times *in February. "Can you make that the headline?"

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*Harry Potter* is scheduled to premiere on HBO at the end of 2026.

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