PoM makes an interesting point; many adult actors struggle to go up against RC and come away even close to his level of amazing. But they did cast a 17yr old. They could have gone older, so many of us thought they would for this exact reason. The 17yr old does have some impressive history, like the PotC franchise and the Pinocchio movie (which I’ve heard many people speak highly of) so his acting ability has to be pretty good. I just don’t know if we can hinge an entire “PP’s not the real big bad” on the acting level of a 17 yr old when, like I said, even the adult actors can’t compare with RC.
I still think making PP just a pawn in the NL mythology is a disservice to a story A and E have been dying to do since S1.