John Lithgow Explains Why He Accepted The Role Of Dumbledore For HBO's Harry Potter Series: "They Just Made It All Sound Very New"
Actor John Lithgow, who will play Dumbledore in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series, recently shared why he decided to take on the role.
Lithgow confirmed he was playing Dumbledore at the end of February telling ScreenRant, “Well, it came as a total surprise to me. I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision because it's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid. But I'm very excited.”
He added, “Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.”
Now, speaking with Variety as part of its “Know Their Lines” series, he shared why he took on the role. First, he explained how this will likely be his last big role, “I don’t know the Harry Potter canon by heart as 98% of the world’s population seems to. It was a huge decision because it involves the next several years of my life. And I’m not young. I mean, this is the last big role I’ll probably play.”
Next, he shared his admiration for former Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon, “I was a huge admirer of Michael Gambon. I never met him, but I always kind of idolized him. And Michael Gambon and I happen to have the same birthday. So I thought that was a kind of wizard-like touch.”
He also explained, “My big question to them was, ‘What is new about this? Why do more with the canon when it’s already been done so well? They just made it all sound very new.”
Finally, Lithgow also implied that the character’s arc throughout the books was also appealing to him, “As the kids grew older [in the books], you learn more and more about Dumbledore, and he became a much more surprising, complicated character. They have described this to me, and I’ve got to discover it for myself and make it my own.”
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When the series was first announced, Warner Bros. promised it would be authentic to the original novels, “The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years.”
“Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally,” it explained.
J.K. Rowling even noted at the time, “Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series.”
However, one of the show’s writers Andy Greenwald indicated before it was revealed he was attached to the show that he wanted nothing to do with a rigorous adaptation of the novels.
On his podcast, The Watch, Greenwald was asked if it would be possible to have a rigorous adaptation of the books to television. He answered bluntly, “Yes.”
He then explained, “These are really, really rich and they are very long books especially later in the series. People adore them. And successive generations are discovering them and loving them every day. … The stores are packed everywhere they are in the country and around the world. People are buying the chocolate frogs and the hats and the owls, all of it. You can monetize almost every single aspect of it. And they kind of have.”
Next, he stated, “So the idea of an incredibly rigorous text-to-screen adaptation is, I think, probably a safe bet to be a success.”
While he noted it would be a success he shared it was something he was not interested in, “If something is trumpeting its absolute rock[steady] faithfulness, I think the pleasures that can be derived from that are probably not going to be for me because I didn’t read all the books. I read them to my older daughter until she could read them for herself and then she dusted me.”
“And I think maybe there’s some other creative possibilities within this world, but J.K. Rowling controls all of it and is not going to let anyone else come play with her toys. And that’s her right and is obviously very profitable for her. So that’s what we get.”
Given Greenwald’s comments and that he is attached to the show as well as Lithgow’s most recent comments, it’s easy to imagine that the show won’t be a rigorous adaptation.
What do you make of Lithgow’s reasoning for joining the Harry Potter TV series?
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Wasn't a women being cast to play Harry? Did I misread that somewhere?
John Lithgow can pull it off on his end. Everyone else? LHP fully supports Peter Dinklage as Rubeus Hagrid.