Jason Isaacs Joins Kenneth Branagh And All-Star Ensemble Cast Of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Highly Anticipated “Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets”

(March 1, 2002 – Burbank, CA) – Jason Isaacs (“Black Hawk Down,” “The Patriot,” “The End of the Affair”) has joined Kenneth Branagh (“Wild Wild West,” “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” “Hamlet”) in the cast of Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated film “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” As previously announced, the multi-talented actor-writer-director Branagh will play an egotistical new arrival at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Isaacs is set for the role of the malevolent Lucius Malfoy. The feature film adaptation of the second novel in author J.K. Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter series and the sequel to the number one film of 2001, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone*,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” finds young wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) facing new challenges during their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they try to uncover a dark force that is terrorizing the school. “Sorcerer’s Stone” director Chris Columbus and producer David Heyman will reprise their filmmaking roles on “Chamber of Secrets,” along with executive producers Mark Radcliffe (“Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Stepmom,” “Home Alone 2”) and Michael Barnathan (“Stepmom,” “Nine Months”). David Barron (“Possession,” “Hamlet,” “Love Labour’s Lost”) joins the team as executive producer. In additional casting news, Miriam Margolyes (“Cats & Dogs,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Age of Innocence”) has been cast to play the green-fingered Professor Sprout, and Mark Williams (“Shakespeare in Love,” “The Borrowers,” “101 Dalmatians”) is set to take on the role of Ron’s father, Mr. Weasley. Other new cast additions include: Shirley Henderson (“Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “Trainspotting,” “Rob Roy”) as the ghostly figure of Moaning Myrtle; Gemma Jones (“Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “Wilde,” “Sense and Sensibility”) who will portray Madam Pomfrey; and Sally Mortemore, who makes her feature film debut as librarian Madam Pince. Reprising their roles from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone*” are acclaimed actors John Cleese (“The World is Not Enough,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” Monty Python troupe) as Nearly Headless Nick; Robbie Coltrane (“Nuns of the Run,” “GoldenEye,” “The World is Not Enough”) as the gentle giant Hagrid; Warwick Davis (“Willow”) as Master of Levitation Professor Flitwick; Richard Griffiths (“Sleepy Hollow,” “Naked Gun 2,” “King Ralph”) as Harry’s Uncle Vernon; Richard Harris (“Gladiator,” “Unforgiven,” “Camelot”) as Hogwarts’ all-knowing Professor Dumbledore; Alan Rickman (“Truly Madly Deeply,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Die Hard”) as the enigmatic Potions Professor Snape; Fiona Shaw (“My Left Foot,” “The Butcher Boy,” Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jane Eyre”) as Harry’s Aunt Petunia; Dame Maggie Smith (Oscar-nominated for her role in “Gosford Park”; “Tea With Mussolini,” “Richard III”) as Dumbledore’s loyal deputy Professor McGonagall; and Julie Walters (“Billy Elliot,” “Educating Rita,” “Personal Services”) as Mrs. Weasley. Tom Felton (“Anna and the King,” “The Borrowers”) will once again play Harry Potter’s archenemy, Draco Malfoy. Three-time Academy Award winning production designer Stuart Craig (“The English Patient,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Ghandi”), an Oscar nominee for his unforgettable work on “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone*,” returns to the “Chamber of Secrets” production team. Oscar and BAFTA nominee Roger Pratt (“Iris,” “Chocolat,” “The End of the Affair”) joins the crew as director of photography, as does Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated editor Peter Honess (“L.A. Confidential,” “Rob Roy,” “Highlander”). “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” will be distributed worldwide in November 2002 by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company. * “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is entitled “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” in Canada, the U.K. and other international territories. # # #