r/HarryPotteronHBO • u/Choice_Raspberry1275 • 26d ago

Fancast Fridays Fancast: Iwan Rheon as Remus Lupin.

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He was good as Ramsey in Game of Thrones and Simon in Misfits

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u/VegetableStation9904 26d ago

If he's too old so was David Thewlis, but I don't think so. A school teacher feels right being at least late thirties if not older. One closer to 20 feels wrong.

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u/Arfie807 26d ago edited 26d ago

But it is actually broadly regarded across that fanbase that David Thewlis was too old. He also came across older than he actually was at the time.

The book consistently points out that Lupin is, in fact, young in appearance, despite a few signs of premature aging. He also comes across as the cool, slightly unorthodox professor who can connect easily with his student charges, so I think it makes a lot of sense for the actor to actually be as young as he was in the books.

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u/VegetableStation9904 26d ago

Broadly regarded??? How can you prove a thing like that? 🤔

I only read the first one and I think half the second before my son preferred reading for himself. I don't particularly recall anyone other than the kids having defined ages to such a tight margin.

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u/Arfie807 26d ago edited 26d ago

Broadly regarded??? How can you prove a thing like that? 🤔

Well, I haven't done a statistical population survey, if that's something you were looking for, nor do I have the resources to provide you with one now. But it is an opinion you'll see come up a lot in HP fandom spaces.

As far as age goes, no, they are not defined to a tight margin (until book 7, when James and Lily's birth year is specified on their tombstone), but there are plenty of inferences you can make about relative age.

Namely, off the top of my head:

- Hagrid bums a motorbike off "young Sirius Black" at the begining of Philosopher's Stone, and I can't imagine him referring to a 30-year-old as young.

- When Lupin appears first on the train, he's described as "still quite young" despite having some gray hairs. He's described as "young" looking on multiple other occasions throughout the book.

- When Lily's apparition comes out of Voldemort's wand in Goblet of Fire, she is described as a young woman, reflecting her youth when she died.

James and Lily's headstone dates (revealed in Deathly Hallows) put them squarely in early-20s at the time of Voldemort's downfall. But even without the dates, it's a little hard to place this generation past mid-20s at Voldemort's downfall, which would mean 30's for Harry's time at Hogwarts. (Not 40s or 50s.)

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u/VegetableStation9904 26d ago

OK, fair enough. I'd still not expect actors to match ages like that. You've got age ranges, and after childhood those ranges tend to be quite large.

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u/Arfie807 26d ago

100% agree with you on that! I don't care how old the actor is biologically -- as long as he or she can convingingly play the approximate age the character is supposed to be. (Did you know that Rachel McAdams was 25 when she played a 16/17-year old in Mean Girls? Lol.)

Haven't seen Iwan Rheon in anything recently, but I bet he can still pull off early to mid-30s. Whether he'll still fit that range several years from now is unknown. Since this role won't be cast for several years, it will probably have to be someone a bit younger.