As an avid book lover, I’ve spent much of my life imagining characters in books — trying to figure out who’s perfect to play these characters I fall so deeply intrigued with and want to know everything about. As I’ve gotten older, that hasn’t changed, but it’s turned into something a lot more common in today’s social media world: creating fancasts of my beloved characters.
Harry Potter (HP) has been the source of so many products, including those that have been created into works of art, removed from the HP world. This includes fanfictions like “Crimson Rivers,” “Manacled,” and “All the Young Dudes’ (ATYD).”
ATYD is a fanfiction detailing the adventures and heartbreaks of the Marauders. Fans will know that this name is the group of Harry’s dad’s childhood best friends. The group, however, had always been a little more complex than many readers realized.
ATYD goes into detail about how one author, known as MsKingBean89, imagined things happening. From the perspective of Remus Lupin, this author wrote a fanfiction so long and so detailed that it was eventually deemed close to canon by the internet.
As a fan of this work, I’ve spent so much time imagining a cast of these characters, and we need a slightly more modern casting of the group. That’s what I’m here to give.
Now, my obligatory disclaimer, I’ll be spoiling some details in the description of these characters ahead. You’ve been warned; proceed at your own discretion. I’d also like to point out that I wanted to focus on their final years of school and adult life.
Mark Eydelshteyn as Remus Lupin
This is the closest I could get to what felt right for a Remus casting. ATYD Remus is a hot head, easily influenced, and a soul with immense guilt and mistrust who starts the story severely undereducated.
Hogwarts became a sanctuary for him, and after a long period of trust-building, his friends became everything. Something about Eydelshteyn, most notably seen in Anora, gives me confidence that he could portray the anger, vulnerability, and loss.
Mason Thames as Sirius Black
I know Mason Thames from seeing his interviews across social media, and I love him. He’s incredible, and being such an enthusiast of the Ben Barnes fancast, this is an actor I feel could be confused for his brother or cousin.
It’s clearly mentioned in canon that Sirius and his younger brother had a family that wasn’t… nice. Sirius is a character, I believe, who represents the kids from rough families who kept their whimsy. Mason Thames has that whimsy I want to see.
Aryan Simhadri as James Potter
Now, before anyone starts, I think canon is completely optional, and headcanons are where fandoms thrive. Desi James Potter, my beloved. This man is pure sunshine in a single human being. He is the best of friends, an overachiever of overachievers, and the lover boy of all time.
He has a childhood that everyone dreams of, and I wish the rest of his life had been just as easy. We’ve seen Aryan act as the sweet best friend as Grover in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and I’d love to see him in a role where he gets to be a little bit of trouble and a lot of a lover boy.
Alex Warren as Peter Pettigrew
Have I seen this man act once in my life? Absolutely not. I’m so convinced he’d kill this role. Young Peter is known for just fighting for James’ attention in the presence of Sirius and being a reliable friend, until he manages to get a girlfriend, whom he disappears for.
My only issue with this is the age range between the collection of actors. Alex is a bit older than some of them, and he does look older. I’d like to find an alternative; however, I do think he’d do amazing acting in this role.
Sadie Sink as Lily Evans
Before I hear the complaints of using a Sadie as a redhead, I have my reasons. She does the nonchalant girl with a lover boy after her so well. Lily would give her a chance to show a different side of herself.
Lily is so reminiscent of Hermione that I can’t imagine not having that archetype of a character there. She wants to be the best, and she is. She shows so much kindness to Remus and puts up with so much from Severus that she eventually turns just a little stern.
Renee Rapp as Marlene McKinnon
This is the only right casting, argue with a wall on this one. Marlene is a character who is reckless, fun, and proud of it. She has a fling with Sirius before they both realized the opposite sex isn’t their type.
Marlene goes on to discover her sexuality and ends up in a long relationship with a girl on her Quidditch team. This is a storyline that I’m sure Renee Rapp knows all too well. She’s an amazing actress, and I know she can portray the hard emotions that come with a role like this one.
Storm Reid as Mary MacDonald
I love Storm Reid. She’s the first person I imagined portraying a character like Mary.
The biggest thing that breaks my heart about this character is her end in the wizarding world. She was such a strong character and fighter, and after seeing her friend group ripped to shreds by loss, she retreated to the Muggle world to try and live a normal life. The difficulty of a scene like that would be incredible, and I know Storm Reid can portray that.
Jamie Flatters as Grant Chapman
This name may seem unfamiliar to those who may not have read ATYD yet, and that’s because he doesn’t exist in the HP world. Rather, Grant is what’s known as an OC (original character), invented by MsKingBean89.
Grant is a character essential to Remus’ development and finding his identity. He met him through his time in the Muggle world and stayed attached to him over the years.
With this casting, I really could choose whoever I wanted, but I really like Jamie Flatter’s vibe. I’m a huge Avatar fan, and to see his interests and his art outside of film, it reminds me of my ideas of Grant in the time when I first read this story.
Finn Wolfhard as Severus Snape
Now, anyone who knows me knows there are two characters in the HP world that I despise almost as much as the actual villains: Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. I have problems with Severus.
Bullying a child as a full-grown, employed adult is insane. I don’t care who the kids’ parents are. Bullying Harry made no sense, considering that Snape was so obsessed with Lily. Not in love, obsessed.
We know that Finn is a HP fan after his SNL skit, and I think he would love to play this role as much as some fans would like to see it.
If you’re interested in this specific story and have never read it, go look at AO3, or the numerous other platforms where you can find these passion projects of devout fans, and take some time for yourself to figure out what you think about each of these characters.
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