British actor Jason Isaacs has no hesitation in passing the Lucius Malfoy baton to Johnny Flynn, who will step into the role for the upcoming Harry Potter television series. The 62-year-old actor, who played the menacing Malfoy patriarch across seven films (out of eight) in the franchise, believes Flynn will bring something entirely his own to the part.

“Johnny will do his own thing. Maybe he’ll be more charming. I doubt that he’ll look like me, because that was the look I came up with and he’s far too original to want to copy anything,” Jason said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

He also recalled how he crafted Lucius’s now-iconic look for his debut in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). Jason had once revealed that early sketches had Malfoy Sr. in a pinstriped suit with short hair, a design he immediately rejected. Instead, he proposed the (now iconic) long icy-blond locks, sweeping cloak and cane-wand that went on to define the character, convincing director Chris Columbus to back his vision.

Having worked with Johnny on the 2021 war drama Operation Mincemeat, Jason said the two remain on good terms. Asked if Johnny had sought his advice before taking on the wizard, he responded with a grin: “If he had, I wouldn’t tell anyone. I texted him, and I can say that because that’s my domain to talk about. I texted because we did a film together and we were friendly. He’s absolutely delightful and phenomenally talented, and I have no doubt he’s going to do something completely different from what I did because I did my own thing.”

Jason is equally excited about the series itself, which is being built from the ground up. “They’re redesigning everything from scratch. They’re redesigning Hogwarts and the costumes and they’re writing all these fabulous new scripts that are expanding each book into a whole season. And it’ll be fab — it’ll be for a new generation. It’ll be their version of Harry Potter,” he said.

While he once joked he would be “long forgotten” as soon as another actor donned Lucius’s robes, Jason now emphasizes what endures: “It all starts and comes from the books, and the books are beloved. But Johnny’s great. I can’t wait to see what everyone does, frankly, all the cast are amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing what John Lithgow does. All of them.”

For Jason, the real joy is that he can finally watch Harry Potter without the strange detachment of seeing himself on screen. “It’s going to be fab because it’s not like I watch the films, because I’m in them, so that’s a bit weird for me. But now I can watch them with unalloyed fandom instead of thinking there’s a narcissism of watching myself.”