Lord Voldemort is the arch-antagonist of the Harry Potter story, but the dark wizard has been portrayed by a number of actors on the big screen.
Summary
- Throughout the Harry Potter movies, multiple actors portrayed Voldemort due to his various forms and transformations, reflecting the character's complex backstory and twisting narrative.
- Ralph Fiennes is widely associated with the role of Lord Voldemort, with his portrayal capturing the sinister and venomous personality of the character from the original book series.
- Other actors, including Richard Bremmer, Christian Coulson, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Frank Dillane, Ian Hart, and even Eddie Izzard in a LEGO spinoff, have all contributed to the portrayal of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise.
Keeping track of the Lord Voldemort actor throughout the Harry Potter movies can be tough as the slithering villain has been portrayed by a succession of varied faces on the big screen. Initially spoken of in hushed tones only, Harry Potter introduces the legend of Voldemort in its very first book, depicting a dark, fearsome wizard who terrorized the magic world, only to be defeated while attempting to kill a young Harry Potter. That led to various versions of Voldemort appearing throughout the franchise, meaning multiple actors had to tackle the role.
Over the years, every version of Voldemort had to be depicted on the big screen. That means there was someone to portray him when he took control of a Hogwarts professor, there was a Tom Riddle actor when he showed up as a memory, there was a star to play him when he returned to his full form, and that's just over the course of the first half of films. With the news that the Harry Potter universe is getting a reboot on Max, that means a handful of other performers will be joining the list of Voldemort actors in the future.
Richard Bremmer
In the first Harry Potter movie, Lord Voldemort is merely an enigmatic old threat lingering in the background, but when the history of Daniel Radcliffe's character is explored via flashbacks, the dark wizard makes a brief debut, breaking into the Potters' home and skulking into Baby Harry's room. The audience's next glimpse of Lord Voldemort comes during Harry's first year at Hogwarts, and is the digitized face of veteran British actor Richard Bremmer in Harry Potter and the Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone's final battle.
Not necessarily a familiar name to many, Bremmer has appeared in movies such as Shanghai Nights, To Kill A King, and The 13th Warrior. In a curious twist of Harry Potter Voldemort actors, he also enjoyed a minor role in Onegin — a 1999 romance starring none other than Ralph Fiennes. Bremmer's Harry Potter career might've been brief — and his face may have been obscured by early-2000s CGI — but the footage was reused in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, allowing the original Voldemort actor to bookend the entire Harry Potter franchise.
Since that appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Richard Bremmer has continued to work consistently, albeit in smaller roles. He appeared in films like Mr Turner, In the Heart of the Sea, and most notably, Stars Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, though he was credited as First Order officer #5, so it was again a small part. Regardless, Bremmer will remain iconic as he's the first true look at Voldemort that audiences got in the films.
Christian Coulson
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets delves deeper into Voldemort's childhood history by exploring his former identity as Tom Riddle and his days as a Hogwarts student, building towards the moment Harry Potter begins his journey to kill the Dark Lord by unknowingly destroying part of the villain's soul. These scenes required a younger Voldemort actor to replace the middle-aged Bremmer, and British talent Christian Coulson was ultimately cast, receiving the honor of being the first non-digitized face to portray Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise.
Playing the ethereal apparition of a 16-year-old Tom Riddle, Coulson made a considerable impression as the mysterious brooding teenager — despite already being in his mid-20s while filming Harry Potter. Coulson brought a good blend of arrogance and charisma to the role, which makes sense given Riddle's noted charm as a teen and who he became when he got older. The actor hasn't had a major career since but he continues to act, appearing in Gossip Girl, Nashville, and Blue Bloods since.
Ralph Fiennes
Of all the Voldemort actors to don the pale makeup and non-existent nose, British actor Ralph Fiennes is the thespian most widely associated with the role. First appearing in 2005's The Goblet of Fire, Fiennes would go on to make the villainous gig his own, appearing in each of the remaining Harry Potter films in varying capacities. Older transformations and youthful incarnations aside, Fiennes' face is the Voldemort actor fans remember — the definitive image of a present-timeline, resurrected Harry Potter villain.
Needless to say, the critically-acclaimed actor was a resounding success as He Who Shall Not Be Named, managing to eke every last drop of venomous, sinister personality from Harry Potter's original book series, and giving younger fans nightmares for years to come. For a lot of book fans, Fiennes expertly captured the character from the pages in the same way that Alan Rickman did with Snape or that Maggie Smith did with McGonnagall.
Harry Potter fans needn't look far to see what else Fiennes has been up to. The actor starred as M in the James Bond franchise, worked with Wes Anderson in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and lent his voice to The Lego Batman Movie and Doolittle. For anyone wanting another look at Fiennes playing a villain, there's The Menu, where he takes on the role of a deadly chef.
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin
Playing Lord Voldemort became a family affair in The Half-Blood Prince when Ralph Fiennes' nephew was cast to play the 11-year-old version of Harry Potter's future mass murderer. Hero Fiennes-Tiffin can be seen when Dumbledore and Harry begin diving into memories, seeking a way to end the growing threat of Voldemort once and for all. David Yates (Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince director) has admitted Hero Fiennes-Tiffin's resemblance to Ralph was an important factor but also insisted Hero excelled during auditions, managing to exude Voldemort's darkness better than the other young candidates.
Despite an outwardly innocent appearance, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin has the "creepy child" trope nailed down, and the audience readily accepts this young child will one day torment the wizarding world. An 18-year-old version of Voldemort came close to appearing in The Half Blood Prince, with Michael Berendt cast as the adolescent evildoer and ready to film, but these scenes were cut from the final script. An older Hero Fiennes-Tiffin recently starred as the lead in the romance franchise, After.
Frank Dillane
Casting for the multitude of flashbacks in Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince onward, a mid-teens Voldemort actor was required. Christian Coulson was considered for a reprisal but, having already been much older than Hogwarts-era Voldemort the first time around, the 30-year-old was ruled out of contention by David Yates. Several names were put forward for the part, but British actor and drama student Frank Dillane was eventually cast, having only appeared as an extra in previous projects.
The son of Stannis Baratheon himself (Game of Thrones actor Stephen Dillane), Frank offered a more unhinged performance as Tom Riddle/Voldemort — a youngster beginning to embrace his dastardly instincts and forge a path towards wrongdoing. Outside of Harry Potter, Frank Dillane will be most familiar as Nick Clark from Fear The Walking Dead. One of the spinoff's original cast members, Nick met an untimely death in the AMC zombie show's fourth season.
Ian Hart
Voldemort didn't feature exclusively via flashbacks in Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone. The villain survived his brush with Harry Potter and eventually came to graft himself onto the head of an unassuming Professor Quirrell - a naive student he met by chance and successfully corrupted. While Voldemort spends most of his Harry Potter debut beneath a turban, the climactic scene sees Quirrell reveal his true nature, and Voldemort's face is uncovered in all its horror.
Professor Quirrell is played by British actor Ian Hart, who actually pulled double duty as a Harry Potter Voldemort actor, also serving as the voice behind Voldemort's CGI face. As a testament to Hart's performance, this duality is not at all obvious in the finished film. Since his stint in the wizarding world, Hart has continued to rack up television and film credits, making appearances in Agents of SHIELD, Finding Neverland, and Boardwalk Empire.
Eddie Izzard
Not a name usually associated with Harry Potter's list of Voldemort actors, British comedian Eddie Izzard lent his voice to the wicked wizard in 2017's The LEGO Batman Movie. Despite having precious little to do with DC's Dark Knight, Voldemort makes an appearance in the LEGO spinoff venture alongside a host of familiar (mini)figures from pop culture, and it's Izzard providing his familiar tones to the plastic version of Harry Potter's big bad.
Despite landing nowhere near the canon of Harry Potter's universe, Eddie Izzard as Voldemort certainly piqued fan interest, with the comedian's unique performance style and unmistakable vocals making him an ideal alternative to Ralph Fiennes. Perhaps when the inevitable Harry Potter reboot comes to pass, Izzard will be put forth as the next actor to play Lord Voldemort in live-action.
Why Lord Voldemort's Actor Was Changed
There are two main reasons Harry Potter's Voldemort actor changes so often: his many transformations and the story's twisting narrative. As mentioned previously, Voldemort doesn't stabilize into his Ralph Fiennes form until the final act of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, which means the likes of Ian Hart and Richard Brenner were required to portray proto-Voldemort's various pre-resurrection forms. Voldemort's backstory is also told in stop-start fashion throughout the Harry Potter books, skipping from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood. Actors getting older was already a problem for the Harry Potter movies, but Voldemort was one of the few characters the franchise could get away with recasting each time since Tom Riddle would always age a few years between each flashback.
