Why Ian McKellen passed on playing Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies

Thanks to his iconic portrayal of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, Ian McKellen has become one of the most beloved onscreen wizards of all time. And his wizarding career could’ve been even grander; McKellen was once offered the role of Hogwarts Headmaster  Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies.

So why didn’t it work out? Turns out McKellen felt “insulted” by the original actor’s comments about him.

In the first two Harry Potter movies, Dumbledore was played by actor Richard Harris. Harris sadly passed away in 2002 following a fight with Hodkin’s disease, and the role of Dumbledore was left open.

McKellen was promptly offered the opportunity to continue Dumbledore’s story, but he respectfully declined, saying that he didn’t want to take over from an actor who had previously criticized him. Harris had talked about McKellen’s credentials as an actor, calling him and fellow actors Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi “technically brilliant” but “passionless.”

“When they called me up and said if I would be interested in being in the Harry Potter films, they didn’t say what part,” McKellen told the BBC’s HARDtalk back in 2017. “I worked out what they were thinking, and I couldn’t take over the part from an actor I know didn’t approve of me.”

What would the Harry Potter movies look like with Ian McKellen as Dumbledore?

The role would ultimately go to Michael Gambon, who did a stellar job. His casting was on point… but we’ll always be left wondering what could’ve been had McKellen gone on to play the character. Naturally, fans have created DeepFake videos showing us what that might have looked like:

The Harry Potter franchise will have to find its next Dumbledore very soon. Announced earlier this year, Max will be adapting the Harry Potter books into a TV series. Who would you cast as Dumbledore?

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