The Harry Potter universe is getting rebooted across several media, as the story of the Boy Who Lived is being told to a new generation.

During his recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Matthew Macfadyen, who has been cast as the new Lord Voldemort for Audible’s new audiobooks of the seven-part series, opened up about taking on the iconic villain. “I was quite pleased to be asked because I’d never, I haven’t really done any audio stuff like that.”

He stressed that “I don’t think I would ever be cast as Voldemort in as me.” When he went in to record his lines, Macfadyen explained how “I thought I would just go in and – it’s a couple of days in the studio – and I thought I would copy Ralph Fiennes because his sort of indelible performance.”

However, the British star quickly realized that he would have to do more than simply imitate Fiennes, adding, “What I’d failed to realize is that in the books, he’s introduced by the narrator as having a very high voice, like ‘a cold, high voice rang out,’ or ‘Harry heard a malevolent high voice.’”

He added that “I would start, and the director, our lovely director, was like ‘No, it has to be higher.’ It was really, like [in a high voice] ‘Oh, no, Harry.’ It was ridiculous.”

The 51-year-old actor concluded the story by sharing how “I had a wand. They gave me a wand in the studio, like a sort of comfort wand. And I had this mic strapped on my head.” To him, he felt he “looked deranged. And it was great.”

Warner Bros. is also bringing the property back to screen, but this time as an HBO series, as the Harry Potter TV show is currently in production on the first season. Arabella Stanton, who plays Hermione Granger in the HBO drama, is also voicing her in the same audio series as Macfadyen.

The live-action TV show, which will adapt one book per season, has yet to tap an actor for the Dark Lord. Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Edition has begun to release each book on a monthly basis on Audible as of November 4, 2025.

Cast

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen

Movie(s)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore