AI Reveals What Harry Potter Characters Should Look Like Based On The Books

When the "Harry Potter" books were first released in 1997, they proved so unbelievably popular that it was no surprise a movie adaptation came shortly thereafter. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" debuted in theaters in 2001 and introduced filmgoers across the world to the magical world found in the books, bringing the story of the titular Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) to life and giving the wizarding world a real feel. So did fans think that the cast of young actors combined with venerable British performers were a good representation of the characters they loved?

Sort of! Even after all these years, "Harry Potter" fans are still debating whether the actors, including Radcliffe, actually look like their literary counterparts. In November 2022, YouTuber Suraj Kukkipady put together a video — itself based on a BoredPanda article — featuring the actors from the super-successful film franchise next to AI-generated versions of what they should look like according to the original source material. Obviously, things change in adaptation, and sometimes, an actor's talent supersedes whether or not they perfectly match how the character is described in the books. Still, it's interesting to look at the AI versions of the characters and the actors and see how well they match — or, in some cases, how different they look.

Some of the AI images and actors match up pretty well, actually — Fleur Delacour, the character introduced in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" played by Clémence Poésy, looks remarkably "correct" — but for the most part, they don't really. That's okay, though. Casting the "Harry Potter" series was an enormous undertaking, particularly because its three main characters, Harry himself and his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), are only 11 years old when the story begins. That meant that producer David Heyman and his creative team had to find young, likely inexperienced actors who would grow up as the series continued.

Daniel Radcliffe, Weasley, and Watson play their roles pretty perfectly throughout all eight films — the final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was famously split into two releases — and they were flanked by some of the finest British actors around, including Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Fiona Shaw, Dame Emma Thompson, and many, many more. Again, to be frank, this AI video makes it pretty clear that the actors definitely don't match their literary descriptions precisely, but that doesn't matter; these roles were played to perfection by experienced actors and a trio of newcomers who became some of the biggest young stars in cinematic history.

In any case, these videos that compare AI-generated versions of the character next to the actor will be moot pretty soon, because a "Harry Potter" reboot is coming to HBO whether we like it or not. News broke in April of 2023 that a series spanning enough seasons for each book to get its own installment would eventually premiere on the premium network — and at face value, that seems like a pretty solid idea. A lot of plot points and characters were left on the cutting room floor when the "Harry Potter" books were originally adapted into those films, and it would be nice to see these stories told with the detail they deserve.

Still, there are complications to consider. The author of the "Harry Potter" books, Joanne Rowling, has been embroiled in quite a bit of controversy since the last "Potter" film came out in 2011, and some of the franchise's original stars, including Daniel Radcliffe, have even released statements speaking out against some of her views regarding transgender women. The books also include some plot points that probably should stay on the cutting room floor, like the whole situation with the house-elves and how much they "love" their indentured servitude. In any case, perhaps the series' creative team, which includes "Succession" veteran Mark Mylod, will conduct a thorough search to find actors who perfectly match up with these characters.

The original "Harry Potter" films are streaming on Peacock now.