Listen Up: 32,000 children audition for lead roles in HBO’s new ‘Harry Potter’ series
Practise your English with our short listening exercises: play the audio, answer the questions, and check the answers at the bottom of the page
Arabella Stanton (from left), Dominic McLaughlin and Alastair Stout have been cast in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series. Photo: TNSQuestions
1. What was the purpose of the casting call?
A. to find writers
B. to choose the leading actors
C. to ask fans for ideas for the series
D. to announce the release date of the series
2. How many children auditioned for the role of Hermione Granger?
A. 500
B. 1,000
C. 32,000
D. information not given
3. Which word can replace “lead” at the beginning of the podcast?
A. important
B. small
C. first
D. minor
4. What was the age requirement for the child actors?
A. younger than five
B. nine, 10 or 11
C. older than 11
D. at least 13
5. What does the “titular” role in the podcast refer to?
A. Daniel Radcliffe
B. Dominic McLaughlin
C. the character of Harry Potter
D. the film Harry Potter
6. Who is playing the character of Albus Dumbledore in the HBO series?
A. Paapa Essiedu
B. Paul Whitehouse
C. Luke Thallon
D. John Lithgow
7. What role will Rowling have in the HBO series?
A. director
B. manager
C. executive producer
D. scriptwriter
8. Which of the following best describes the series?
A. It will closely follow the original books.
B. It will only feature a small part of the books.
C. It will be very different from the original books.
D. none of the above
9. How many people are there in a “trio”?
A. two
B. three
C. five
D. seven
10. Which of these is not mentioned in the podcast as an expansion of the Harry Potter franchise?
A. a stage play
B. Fantastic Beasts movies
C. theme park areas
D. an animated series
11. Using information from the podcast, complete the following profile of the three leading actors. (4 marks)
Dominic McLaughlin
Before getting the main role as (i) __________, he studied acting in Scotland for (ii) __________.
Alastair Stout
The role of (iii) __________ is his first big acting job.
Arabella Stanton
The actress will play Hermione Granger. She acted in a (iv) __________ in London from 2023 to 2024. She was also in another play called Starlight Express.
Answers
1. B
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. D
7. C
8. A
9. B
10. D
11. (i) Harry Potter; (ii) five years; (iii) Ron Weasley; (iv) musical
Script
Adapted from Tribune News Service and dpa
Voice 1: The new HBO series based on Harry Potter has cast its main characters: Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. A casting call announced in September of last year attracted around 32,000 children who auditioned for the lead roles. According to HBO, the casting team reviewed up to 1,000 audition tapes each day.
Voice 2: Dominic McLaughlin will play the brave Harry. Arabella Stanton will portray the clever Hermione. Alastair Stout will take on the role of the clumsy Ron. It was previously stated that the three young actors must be residents of either the United Kingdom or Ireland and be between the ages of nine and 11 as of April 2025. Filming is set to begin this summer, with the show scheduled to premiere next year. According to HBO, the three children are newcomers to the industry.
Voice 1: Before landing the titular role in Harry Potter, Dominic studied at the Performance Academy Scotland for five years. He is set to appear in the upcoming BBC series Gifted, which follows Scottish teens who discover they have superpowers. Additionally, he will feature in the Sky film Grow, which tells the story of a grumpy pumpkin farmer and her orphaned niece.
Voice 2: Harry Potter marks Alastair’s first major role, and his only other credited appearance is in a commercial for Albert Bartlett potatoes. Arabella played Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical in London’s West End from 2023 to 2024. The English actress also portrayed the narrator Control in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s play Starlight Express in 2024.
Voice 1: The previously announced cast members include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. Janet McTeer has been cast as Minerva McGonagall, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.
Voice 2: Author J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts and David Heyman will serve as executive producers for the HBO series. Each season of the show will faithfully adapt one of the Harry Potter books. The novels were previously adapted into films featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as the central trio.
Voice 1: Along with the seven bestselling books and eight blockbuster films, the franchise also gave rise to the Fantastic Beasts movie prequels featuring Eddie Redmayne, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and areas at the Universal theme parks.