HBO will recast Ginny Weasley in Season 2 of “Harry Potter” after Gracie Cochrane departed the series “due to unforeseen circumstances,” Deadline first reported Monday.
The casting change lands before the new HBO series has even premiered. Cochrane had been announced in August 2025 as Ginny, the youngest Weasley sibling, in the network’s new television adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s books. Her exit matters because Ginny’s role expands sharply in the second book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, where the character moves from the Weasley family orbit into the center of the Hogwarts mystery.
HBO has not yet announced Cochrane’s replacement. Deadline reported that the role will be recast for Season 2, which has already been ordered as the network works to keep production moving on a project built around young actors.
Cochrane was originally named alongside Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley and Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley. Alastair Stout plays Ron Weasley, while Katherine Parkinson plays Molly Weasley. “The Burrow is nearly full,” HBO said when the Weasley casting was announced last year.
That earlier announcement gave the series its first public look at several members of the Weasley family, a group that will be central to Harry’s first year at Hogwarts and even more important once Season 2 gets underway. Bonnie Wright played Ginny across the eight Warner Bros. films, beginning with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
The first season of HBO’s “Harry Potter” is titled “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and is set to debut on Christmas Day. HBO previously announced the season will run eight episodes, with Dominic McLaughlin starring as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Stout as Ron.
Season 2 does not yet have a premiere date. HBO has already put the second season in motion, with Francesca Gardiner continuing on the series and Jon Brown elevated to co-showrunner after working as a writer on Season 1.
