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Jason Isaacs says Meryl Streep should play Lucius Malfoy in HBO's Harry Potter series: "She can do anything"

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By Mireia Mullor published 25 March 2025

The three-time Oscar winner is no stranger to playing villains

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Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
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Jason Isaacs is on the spotlight at the moment thanks to his lead role in The White Lotus season 3, but for a lot of viewers he will always be Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter film saga. With a reboot now in the works at HBO, the actor was asked who should be the next actor playing Draco's evil father, and he offered the most unexpected answer.

"Meryl Streep," Isaacs told Variety in a recent interview. "She can do anything, that woman. There's literally no limit to what she can do", he added.

A three-time Oscar winner, Streep is definitely the kind of actor who can do it all, including a gender-flipped version of Lucius Malfoy. We have certainly seen her playing scary and evil-ish characters, from Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada to The Witch in Into the Woods and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

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  • Dominic McLaughlin in the first look at Harry Potter Warner Bros. executive says the Harry Potter HBO series will be the "streaming event of the decade"

For now, there are only two actors attached to the reboot, Jon Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. The series is set to run for seven seasons, which will adapt the seven books from the bestselling fantasy saga.

Jason Isaacs recently talked about filming the movies, saying "they weren’t that much fun to make", as it's "quite boring making big special effects films."

"However the pleasures all come afterwards. 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 them," he added.

The White Lotus season 3 drops episodes every week on Max, so check our release schedule for The White Lotus season 3 to stay up to date. For more, check out our guides to the best HBO shows and the best HBO movies.

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It is important to note that the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series has been the subject of criticism and debate due to the show's executive producer and author J.K. Rowling's very public and harmful stance on gender identity. It was a similar situation with the Hogwarts Legacy launch. For more, read more about the Hogwarts Legacy controversy.

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Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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