John Lithgow Reportedly Contemplated Quitting Dumbledore Role Due To J.K. Rowling's Views On Sex & Gender

A new report claims that John Lithgow reportedly contemplated quitting the upcoming Harry Potter series, where he plays Dumbledore, due to J.K. Rowling’s views on sex and gender.

As part of a feature on Lithgow, The New York Times reported, “Lithgow considered quitting the series but decided not to, and accepts without rancor that in “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”

As for why, the outlet claims its over criticism he received for taking on the role due to Rowling’s views on sex and gender.

The report notes that Lithgow was “stung” after he received criticism from Aud Mason-Hyde, who plays a so-called non-binary grandchild alongside Lithgow in Jinpa. Lithgow’s character in that film is a gay man named Jim Hyde.

Mason-Hyde criticized Lithgow’s decision to play Dumbledore in an interview with the LGBTQ+ activist outlet Out, “"It was definitely a difficult moment in time.”

Mason-Hyde added, “I don't think it's worth speaking to John's reasoning by any means, but I do also think that it's a strange decision, for sure. And also I found it disconcerting, maybe, is the right word."

On top of Mason-Hyde’s criticism, the film’s director Sophie Hyde also told the outlet, “As soon as I heard about Harry Potter, for sure, I contacted John and expressed my feelings about it. Not that J.K. Rowling has opinions, which is one thing, but that she has a very vocal platform and she's funding a very, very harmful legal battle against trans people and that funding is doing a great deal of harm."

"John is somebody who responds from his own point of view and is very kind of keen to talk about empathy, really wants to support the film Jimpa, really believes in trans rights, really believes in the story and all of these things, and yet has made the decision for his own reasons to do the show," she says.

Lithgow has previously discussed Rowling’s views telling The Hollywood Reporter in February, “I take the subject and the issue extremely seriously. J.K. Rowling has created this amazing canon for young people, young kids’ literature that has jumped into the consciousness of society. Young and old people love Harry Potter and the Harry Potter stories. It’s so much about acceptance. It’s about good versus evil. It’s about kindness versus cruelty. It’s deeply felt.”

“I find it ironic and somewhat inexplicable that Rowling has expressed such views. I’ve read about them, and I’ve never met her,” he added.

“Of course, it upsets me when people are vehemently opposed to my having anything to do with this,” he asserted. “But if you read through the Harry Potter canon, you see absolutely no trace of transphobic sensibility. She has written this great meditation on kindness and empathy and acceptance, which is why it’s so strange to me.”

He also said, “So it was a hard decision on the basis of that [controversy], and it made me very uncomfortable and unhappy that people were actively insisting that I walk away from this job. But I chose not to do that,” he concluded.

Back in April 2025, Lithgow addressed a number of activists who were encouraging him to quit the role. He told The Times (UK) that he was surprised at the backlash for taking on the role and was not expecting it, “No, absolutely not. Of course, it was a big decision because it’s probably the last major role I’ll play. It’s an eight-year commitment so I was just thinking about mortality and that this is a very good winding-down role.”

“I thought why is this a factor at all? I wonder how JK Rowling has absorbed it,” he added. “I suppose at a certain point I’ll meet her and I’m curious to talk to her.”

At the time he said the backlash had not deterred him from taking on the role, “Oh, heavens no.”

As Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington states, “The claim to ‘be transgender’ or the desire to seek ‘transition’ rests on a mistaken view of the human person, rejects the body as a gift from God, and leads to grave harm. To affirm someone in an identity at odds with biological sex or to affirm a person's desired “transition” is to mislead that person. It involves speaking and interacting with that person in an untruthful manner. Although the law of gradualness might prompt us to discern the best time to communicate the fullness of the truth, in no circumstances can we confirm a person in error.”

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