Meet the New Voices of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Audible’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series

Audible has brought new life to the “Harry Potter” stories with fresh young voices taking on the iconic trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Variety spoke with the three British actors behind the magic: Frankie Treadaway, 14, who voices Harry Potter; Max Lester, 13, who plays Ron Weasley; and Arabella Stanton, 11, who brings Hermione Granger to life.

The three actors are lending their voices to the first three “Harry Potter” audiobooks for Audible, which will be released starting November 4. The rest of the series will follow, with each new audiobook arriving monthly.

The project, titled “Harry Potter: The Full Cast Audio Editions,” features over 200 actors, including Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore and Matthew Macfadyen as Voldemort.

When Treadaway found out he had been chosen to play Harry, he said it felt unreal. “It was just pure amazement, to be honest. With such a famous character, associating you with him is just mind-blowing.”

Stanton had a similar reaction when she learned she would be the new Hermione. “It was a pinch-me moment. It’s like, ‘Have I actually got this?’ It was just so amazing when I found out.” Lester said his first thought was disbelief. “I don’t believe this is real… And still now, I can’t believe that I’m a part of this, and I’m in this amazing role with an amazing cast.”

Even though they recorded most of their lines separately, the three young actors became close friends during the process. “Well, yeah, of course we are!” Treadaway said when asked if they’d bonded like their characters. “I think we’ve formed a bond over this period of time when we were doing this.”

To prepare, the trio revisited the original “Harry Potter” movies and books. Stanton said reading the novels helped her understand Hermione better. “I think Hermione can be portrayed in many different ways. She’s quite a well-to-do girl — and she is very smart and is very keen to learn.”

Lester worked on mastering Ron’s distinct accent. “Getting your vowels longer and making your L’s longer and your R’s longer,” he explained. “Sometimes in conversations now, I kind of slip them in there because it sounds right.”

Recording the audiobooks was an exciting experience for all three. They each spent about a week in the studio, where producers made the sessions feel as real as possible.

The actors even got props like wands and robes. Stanton said those small touches helped her feel like Hermione. “If you had your wand, if you were doing a spell, you could practice doing that movement. And I really think all the tiny little things that they gave us really helped me personally to bring Hermione to life.”

Lester’s favorite part of the job was recording scenes where Ron was eating. “It was so real!” he said. “It was even better if you did more takes.”

Treadaway admitted that Daniel Radcliffe’s version of Harry Potter influenced him, but he also wanted to bring something of his own to the role. “I definitely did bear in mind what other previous things of Harry Potter were, just so people still have that familiarity with the character,” he said. “But I also added my spin on it.”

For Stanton, voice acting turned out to be quite different from performing on stage or on camera. “You have to focus more on your voice and really portray your character through your voice with more emotion,” she said. “It’s quite hard because you have to sort of not over-enunciate, but really have nice and good diction whilst you’re speaking so that the mic picks up everything you’re saying.”

The young stars had to keep their roles secret for months before Audible made the announcement in August. Lester said that was the hardest part. “When I did finally get round to telling my friends… they were properly impressed,” he said. “But when I couldn’t tell them, it was quite tough because I really wanted to say what I was doing!”

None of them have met J.K. Rowling yet, though they hope to one day. “I love her writing. I love the books,” Stanton said. “Hopefully we get to meet her in the future.”

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