BBC's His Dark Materials casts Peaky Blinders star in key role
The BBC and HBO's highly-anticipated TV adaptation of His Dark Materials has made yet another fine addition to its stellar cast.
It's been confirmed that Peaky Blinders and Harry Potter star Helen McCrory is on board, voicing Lord Asriel's (James McAvoy) snow leopard daemon Stelmaria.
The actress is the first major star to be announced as a daemon voice – though we do know that Lyra Belacqua's (Dafne Keen) Pantalaimon will be played by newcomer Archie Barnes.
The news of McCrory's casting comes after His Dark Materials dropped a major trailer, which gives us a taste of the action to come.
The series follows young Lyra as she falls under the influence of Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) and the corrupt Magisterium following the departure of her uncle Lord Asriel, though finds her own destiny after being given a mystical device known as the alethiometer.
The series also stars Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda as the aeronaut Lee Scoresby, The Wire's Clarke Peters as Dr Carne and Game of Thrones' James Cosmo as Coram Van Texel.
Director Otto Bathurst recently spoke about updating Philip Pullman's acclaimed novels for the small screen, saying: "We're not twisting it, but we are modernising it a little bit, making it feel a little bit more accessible.
"The books are quite Victoriana in their fantasy, but it's pretty on the nose – there are a lot of fans of that book and it's a great book so why mess with it?"
HBO has confirmed that His Dark Materials will premiere this autumn, with BBC One expected to air it later in the year as well.
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