Harry Potter New TV Show: 25 Castings That Must Happen
14. Martin Freeman As Quirrell
A twist villain is a hard thing for an actor to pull off. Often an actor does well when portraying a character in good mode, but when their true nature is revealed, their performance stumbles, or vice versa.
Quirrell, the superbly-written twist villain of the first book, needs an actor who can really play both sides of the character, and Martin Freeman would be suited to that.
Freeman is often typecast as the bumbling everyman and as his wonderful turns in things like Sherlock, The Office, and The Hobbit Trilogy (in which he was probably the single best element) prove he does that type of role very well.
At the same time, Freeman has a lot more range than he's given credit for. He can play darker roles equally well (just watch him in Fargo) and he could definitely do great work with Quirrell both before and after he flicks the switch.