“Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Rita Skeeter makes move from Hogwarts to Westeros!”
That’s right. Miranda Richardson, who played the evil journalist in the Harry Potter franchise, is joining the upcoming, as-yet untitled Game of Thrones prequel series, according to TV Line.
The show is set thousands of years before the events of the current HBO series, as Westeros transitioned from a prosperous “Age of Heroes” into “The Long Night.” As is the case with most other actors who have been cast on the show, there’s no word on who Richardson is playing, just that it’s a significant role.
Richardson, a two-time Oscar nominee whose varied career has also included projects like The Crying Game, Rubicon, and Chicken Run, joins a cast that features Naomi Watts in a starring role as well as Naomi Ackie (Star Wars Episode IX), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Denise Gough (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt), Jamie Campbell Bower and Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Sheila Atim (Harlots), and Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) in supporting roles.
Franchise creator George R.R. Martin is producing the show and Jane Goldman (Kick-Arse, X-Men: First Class) is the showrunner.
The pilot is expected to shoot later this year, so odds are we won’t have to wait as long as we did for the upcoming season of Thrones to see its follow-up prequel.