Bill Nighy has joined an all-star audio production of the Harry Potter novels as Professor Slughorn, alongside 11 other voice castmembers on Wednesday added to J.K. Rowling’s classic book series turned into immersive productions for Audible and Pottermore Publishing.
Nighy, who played Rufus Scrimgeour in the Harry Potter movie franchise, will lend his voice alongside David Holmes as Stan Shunpike, Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Professor Trelawney and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as Sirius Black.
The Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Edition series earlier announced as castmembers Hugh Laurie as Albus Dumbledore, Matthew Macfadyen as Lord Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Professor Snape, Cush Jumbo as the narrator, Kit Harington to play Professor Lockhart and Keira Knightley as Professor Umbridge, among others.
Bill Nighy said in a statement about his Audible gig: “I was pleased to be asked to play the Professor after having already played a Minister for Magic. Is it possible that I’m the only actor who can claim that achievement? It means that my career continues to have meaning for the next couple of generations. I’m always grateful when asked to play academics having not been further educated myself.”
The newest voices include Mackenzie Crook as Kreacher, Anna Maxwell Martin as Rita Skeeter, Stephen Mangan as Nearly Headless Nick, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Madam Hooch and Millie Gubby as Luna Lovegood.
In addition, Jude Farrant will play Draco Malfoy in audiobooks one, two and three, while Maximus Evans continues the role in audiobooks four through seven, and Jake Sigsworth will lend his voice to Neville Longbottom in audiobooks one, two and three, with Archie Mountain continuing the role in audiobooks four through seven.
The production has a total of more than 200 speaking roles. The first adaptation in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, will debut Nov. 4 on Audible.
The remaining six English-language audiobooks will be released monthly. Production wrapped with over 2,000 recording hours logged to create unabridged adaptations. The productions will complement — not replace — the English language recordings by Dale and Stephen, which were first released in 1999.
