Harry Potter's New Arthur Weasley Actor Has A Connection To The Original Movies

Nepo babies, as they're called, have become the bedrock of the entertainment industry in recent years. Everyone from Margaret Qualley (the spawn of Andie MacDowell) to Dakota Johnson (daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) to Lily-Rose Depp (surely you can figure that one out) is the child of a famous person who, themselves, goes on to become a famous actor. Some of these connections are sneakier than others, though. 

Anyway, did you know that Rafe Spall, who's officially part of the Harry Potter universe, is the son of Timothy Spall, who played an enormous role in the original film franchise?

The younger of the Spalls is, according to outlets like Deadline, set to portray Weasley family patriarch Arthur (a role originated by Mark Williams in the original film franchise) in what we can safely assume will be called "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the second season of HBO's Harry Potter series that plans to devote one season to each of the original novels. (The first is officially titled "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," which is how we can make that leap.) Spall has a small, funny connection to the original "Harry Potter" films in that he starred in the underrated romantic comedy "What If?" alongside the original Harry himself, Daniel Radcliffe, but the much bigger connection to Harry Potter that we're here to discuss is that Rafe will play Arthur Weasley and his dad Timothy once played Peter Pettigrew, also known as "Wormtail."

So who is Wormtail, exactly? Also, did any other nepo babies infiltrate the Harry Potter universe over the years? We'll get to that, and actually, yes.

Let's get into the weeds on Peter Pettigrew, shall we? (An important note here: this role has not been cast for the HBO show's presumed third season, which will likely be called "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.") At the beginning of the third book and film bearing that title, Harry, set to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his third year of schooling, is alarmed to learn that a convicted murderer named Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman in the original film franchise has broken out of the wizarding prison Azkaban, is on the run, and appears to be gunning for, of all people, Harry himself. Later in the story, Harry learns more about Sirius ... namely, that he's Harry's godfather and was close friends with Harry's parents James and Lily Potter, who were killed by Voldemort when Harry was just a baby thanks to intel from Sirius.

Whatever misgivings you may have about the world-building of Harry Potter — and there are legitimate qualms about that, overall! — you have to admit the twist that follows is absolutely astounding. Sirius, as it turns out, is entirely innocent; he asked Peter to keep the secret location of the Potter home from evil forces, and Peter is the one who betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. There's more! During their time at Hogwarts, James, Peter, and Sirius learned to become Animagi and transform into animals at will to keep their werewolf buddy Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) in the movies company; James became a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat (hence, "Wormtail"). Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint in the films, Alastair Stout on the series) has a pet rat ... and it's been Pettigrew all along. Yikes.

Interestingly, Timothy and Rafe Spall aren't the only famous father-son duo to appear in the Harry Potter franchise — and the father and son who set the standard for this actually appeared in the same film series, though they didn't share any important scenes. That title belongs to Brendan Gleeson and his son, Domhnall Gleeson.

In the fourth film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," we meet that year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor (the position is cursed, ensuring that anyone in the role only sticks around for one school year) in the form of Mad-Eye Moody, played by Brendan Gleeson. Though this Mad-Eye turns out to be an impostor (David Tennant's Bartemius Crouch Jr. using the appearance-shifting Polyjuice Potion, which is a whole thing), he impersonates Moody perfectly, extolling "constant vigilance" and scaring his students half to death with tales of all the Dark wizards he's personally fought as an Auror. We finally meet the real Mad-Eye in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," and tragically, the character dies during a battle in the sky on broomsticks in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1.

The younger Gleeson, now a major star in his own right, joined the Harry Potter movies as Bill Weasley in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1," the same movie where his real-life dad perishes on-screen, as Bill Weasley, the eldest son of the large red-headed wizarding family. Mad-Eye and Bill only briefly appear together before that skyborne battle, but just saying: Rafe and Timothy, you aren't special. Brendan and Domhnall did it first!

HBO's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" — the show's debut season — premieres on Christmas Day 2026.