Among the biggest castings for HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series is John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore. The Emmy-winning veteran is an offbeat choice (not the least being the fact he’s American), yet brings major star power to the role which was played in the films by Richard Harris, and later, Michael Gambon.
However, like anyone involved with the Potter series, Lithgow has had to deal with the backlash against creator J.K. Rowling. The author has sadly become more infamous for her views against transgender people than for her writing. Given that she had previously stated Dumbledore was gay, this comes off even worse.
Lithgow’s casting has been scrutinized by former fans who want Rowling held to account for the harm she's caused, and in a new interview with The New York Times, the actor admitted he’d even considered walking away from the series due to it. He eventually stayed, in spite of realizing that “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”
Making this more difficult was transgender actor Aud Mason-Hyde, who worked with Lithgow in the movie Jimpa, expressing being upset about Lithgow joining the Potter series. He said seeing Lithgow agreeing to work on the show was “disconcerting” and “even a bit hurtful.”
It’s more notable as several of Lithgow’s past roles, such as The World According to Garp, Love is Strange and others, are well-loved films among the queer community. That’s clouded the issue further, making Lithgow’s role as Dumbledore more controversial.
For his part, the actor tried to brush off the Rowling controversy to concentrate more on her work. He declared to The New York Times that the story is “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry." Given that the 80-year-old actor has committed to a show planned to run at least seven seasons (one for each Potter book), Lithgow appears ready to be in this for the long haul.
It’s a difficult issue for many of the actors involved with the series, as just taking part in this can be seen as quietly endorsing Rowling’s views. Several past actors, like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, have decried Rowling’s comments, leading to some feuding. It’s casting a shadow over Rowling’s works that is likely to intensify as the series comes closer.
For now, Lithgow seems set to be Dumbledore for the new HBO series and put his own stamp on the role. Hopefully, he and the rest of the cast will do work that can stand on its own merit, regardless of where things stand with Rowling.
The Harry Potter movies are streaming on HBO Max. The Harry Potter TV series is set to debut in 2027.