Cornelius Fudge's New Harry Potter HBO Series Story & Book Comparison Addressed By Remake Star

The Harry Potter TV show’s version of Cornelius Fudge will feature some changes.

Created by Francesca Gardiner, the upcoming HBO series adapts J.K. Rowling’s hit fantasy book series and is slated to premiere later this year, on December 25. Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout lead the Harry Potter show’s cast as Harry, Hermione, and Ron, with Bertie Carvel set to take on the role of Fudge, who serves as the Minister for Magic for most of the series’ story.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ben Gibbons at the 2nd edition of the Italian Global Series festival, Carvel, who recently played an impactful role in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, comments on what’s to come from his version of Fudge. Carvel starts by situating Fudge in a long line of characters he’s played who have had some degree of power or status.

“I’ve played a lot of high-status characters, I suppose you might say,” Carvel says. “Blair, Murdoch, Trump, Nick Clegg – though I’m not sure he was particularly high status in that story. Agatha Trunchbull! Lots of characters I’ve played have a relationship to status.” He continues:

Apart from the fact that they’re often delicious parts to play, with status comes consequence, and that’s usually quite dramatic. If you have power as a character, you usually bear on the story in some way. I’m interested in the relationship between power and conscience. That was definitely true of Baelor. The drama for me with Baelor Targaryen is, “Don’t assume he is going to behave as he does. He might behave otherwise.” There’s no drama otherwise, so it’s a question of how someone is going to respond to their conscience.

When it comes to Fudge, Carvel hasn’t read any scripts yet, but he already believes the character to have a slightly different bent to him than someone like Baelor Targaryen. “I think that’s probably true of Fudge as well, but it just takes a very different trajectory,” Carvel says. “In a funny kind of way, Fudge is not very high status. He occupies a position of power in the Wizarding World, but the extent to which he feels secure in his status is questionable. That’s the canvas on which I’m working.“

Photograph by Steffan Hill/HBO

For Carvel, Fudge represents an interesting opportunity to explore how those in power respond when the dark forces of evil are rising. Though he’s not yet sure how the writers will handle Fudge, it’s evidently a character he’s excited to tackle. As Carvel explains:

To be honest, I’m waiting to see how these writers treat that story. I’ve obviously read the books, and I know what interests me in terms of a trajectory. I feel, again, that it’s highly relevant. A story about a darkening world, where the threat level feels like it’s accelerating. How do our leaders respond? Do they respond with moral courage? How do they respond to their own terror of what might be coming? That feels quite urgent, but until I see the scripts, I don’t quite know what the spin on the ball is going to be. But I’m interested in it, and I think there’s a lot to be explored.

One major change for the Harry Potter TV show’s version of Fudge, of course, is when he’s introduced. Though the character doesn’t appear in the franchise until the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Carvel’s version will be present in season 1, which tackles Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Robert Hardy, who passed away in 2017, played Fudge across four of the Harry Potter movies, culminating with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2007. Fudge served as Minister for Magic for six years before resigning in disgrace following the return of Lord Voldemort. Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) replaces Fudge and serves as Minister for Magic until Voldemort assassinates him.

It remains unclear how the Harry Potter TV show will handle Fudge, but the show has been billed as a more faithful adaptation of the books. This does make it curious that Fudge is debuting as Minister for Magic in season 1 instead of season 2, but, in any case, eight episodes per season means the show should be able to more fully adapt each of Rowling’s novels, with minimal condensing of the plot.

Carvel joins a supporting cast that includes John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, and Paapa Essiedu as Snape. Many questions remain about exactly how this new iteration will compare to the Harry Potter movies, but Carvel is evidently putting a lot of thought into his new take on Fudge.