Ralph Fiennes has backed Cillian Murphy to play Lord Voldemort in a new 'Harry Potter' TV series

Speaking on Bravo's 'Watch What Happens Live', Ralph said: "Cillian is a fantastic actor.

"That's a wonderful suggestion. I would be all in favour of Cillian. Yeah."

Ralph's comments come after Sir Mark Rylance was recently linked to the part of Albus Dumbledore in the TV series.

According to Variety, the 'Wolf Hall' actor is "top of the casting wishlist" for the show.

It's said Warner Bros. has "reached out" to the 64-year-old actor to "gauge interest and availability".

But a representative for HBO told the outlet: "We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumour and speculation.

"As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalise deals."

In the 'Harry Potter' film franchise, Richard Harris portrayed Dumbledore in the first two films, but Michael Gambon took over for the remaining six movies following Richard's death in 2002, aged 72.

In September, an open casting call was launched to find a new trio to take on the parts of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson respectively in the movies.

The casting call read: "We are currently only able to consider children who are aged 9-11 in April 2025, and a resident of the UK or Ireland.

"Please only apply if you meet the brief."

In the initial round of casting, candidates are invited to submit two self-taped audition videos in their native accent.

The first has to be a short story or poem - "nothing from Harry Potter" - which lasts no longer than 30 seconds.

For the second clip, which can be up to a minute, they are asked: "Please record a short video telling us a bit about yourself, including your date of birth, height and where you live.

"In addition, please describe any family member, friend or pet that you are particularly close to."