The star has begun filming as Ron Weasley’s mum in the HBO Harry Potter series and says the young cast are ‘completely wonderful’
The busy star will also be appearing in the new series of Rivals later this month(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
Katherine Parkinson has joked that she’s ‘lining up’ the young stars of the new HBO Harry Potter series as potential partners for her two daughters.
The actress, 48, speaking to the Mirror at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards, said ”The children on that show are so completely wonderful. It’s probably not a good thing to say this, but I’m lining them up for my daughters, haha! I really respect them.”
Asked who she meant, perhaps her on-screen son Ron, played by Alastair Stout, she added, “Maybe….? I don’t want to scare him off!”
She plays Ron Weasley’s mum in the HBO series(Image: PA)
The IT Crowd star is currently filming for the new HBO series in the role of Harry’s flame-haired friend Ron Weasley’s mum Molly – taking over from Julie Walters, who played her in the Warner Bros. film adaptations. A faithful book-by-book adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novels, it is set to premiere in 2027.
Previously admitting it was a ‘pinch-me moment’ to be cast and see her inner world come to life, the actress said, “I’m back filming in a couple of weekends. I haven’t done much yet, but what I have done has been really, really thrilling.”
Parkinson, who shares daughters Dora, 13, and Gwendolyn, 11, with her actor husband Harry Peacock, also spoke about filming the second bonk-busting series of Rivals based on Jilly Cooper’s novel, which returns to Disney+ on May 15.
She says, “It’s brilliantly part-time because Vic [Smirfutt] and I and everybody on Rivals, the plot is so multi-stranded that it means we all have quite a lot of time off as well, which is why we work in pods of people and characters.
“It’s big, bold, brash, bonking brilliance. We only just finished filming in March, as we did so many episodes.”
The new series of Rivals is as ‘big, bold and brash’ as ever, she says(Image: DISNEY PLUS)
The stellar cast includes Danny Dyer and Emily Atack, but Parkinson jokes that it wasn’t as raucous on set as you might imagine – as many of the cast are getting on a bit.
“It was quite civilised I have to say, this series. There was no crazy; we’re all very old. And also the days are very, very long. But everyone’s got a great sense of humour, so we have a lot of fun.”
She says the cast all stay in touch on a Whatsapp group and are very supportive of each other. “They’re a lovely bunch. There isn’t a bad one amongst them, unless it’s me.”
In the last riotous series her character, married romance novelist Lizzie Vereker, became involved in a tender love story with tech magnate Freddie (Dyer), which saw the two actors share an improvised kiss in one scene.
Parkinson is tight-lipped, however, on whether there’ll be more where that came from for the pair. “Do I kiss him on-screen in the next series? I’ve literally blocked it all out; I’ve got no memory. You’ll have to wait and see…”
Parkinson was actually pregnant in real-life filming In The Club(Image: BBC/Rollem Productions)
There it’s lots ahead, but she tells us one of her favourite TV roles to date was in the late Kay Mellor’s BBC drama In The Club, about the rollercoaster lives of a group of expectant parents.
She says, “I loved that show. I was actually pregnant during it, and had a pregnant bump over the real pregnant bump, which was dangerous because people sort of went to hit it, and I was like, “No!”
“What an amazing woman Kay Mellor was. She was so warm and brilliant. I remember her telling me she liked writing about women, not because she was trying to promote women, but because she genuinely found them more interesting. I love that.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .