John Lithgow explains why he doesn’t see taking part in Dumbledore in Harry Potter sequence as ‘that hard a job’
John Lithgow has said that even though he’s “behind everybody” when it comes to keeping up with the Harry Potter series, he doesn’t believe playing the Hogwarts headmaster will be “that hard”.
Almost a month ago, Lithgow confirmed that he had taken on the role of beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the forthcoming HBO adaptation of the Harry Potter novels, saying: “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. 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.”
In a recent podcast appearance, the Conclave actor, 79, opened up about the series as well as the preparation he’s begun for the fan favourite character.
“The overall concept of this entire reboot of Harry Potter is an entire season is devoted to a single novel,” Lithgow said of the series on the Smartless podcast.
Responding to a question from hosts on how far he is, in terms of reading the novels, Lithgow said he seems “to be behind everybody”, and is currently “halfway through the second of these seven novels”.
The TV adaption, which was confirmed by HBO Max in 2023, aims to be a “faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer JK Rowling”.
The retelling of Rowling’s novels is set to start filming this summer in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, where the original films were shot, and the series is expected to debut in late 2026 or early 2027.
Considering the series will span all seven books, Lithgow was asked what his filming schedule would look like and how much travel that would entail, but Lithgow didn’t seem too concerned by it.
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“I honestly don’t know. I was over in England for eight months for The Crown and barely came back [to the US]. I think I may have come back once or twice. I imagine that I can come back much more.”
Lithgow played British prime minister Winston Churchill on The Crown for the first three seasons on the Netflix series.
On the character itself, Lithgow doesn’t foresee it as being “hard”.
“Dumbledore is kind of the nuclear weapon,” he said. “He only goes on very, very occasionally. I don’t think it’s gonna be that hard a job, and, we’ll just go back and forth.”
The six time Emmy-winner then revealed that even though the logistics alarmed him, it seemed to be a good way to round out his career.
“The logistics are a little bit scary. I really did have to think hard about whether to take it on but I also thought, well, I’m about to turn 80 next year.
“If this is indeed a seven- or eight-year-long job, it’s a wonderful way to grow old as an actor. I mean, the alternative is to just be hauled out once a year to play an Alzheimer’s patient…and an awful lot of death scenes with weeping middle-aged children, you know.”
Three actors played Dumbledore in the original run of Harry Potter films between 2001 and 2011. Richard Harris played the headmaster in the first two instalments, The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets.
His death in 2002 saw Michael Gambon take over the role for the remaining films.
In the film adaptations of the prequel franchise Fantastic Beasts, Jude Law played a younger version of Dumbledore in The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Casting calls for the three young leads – Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger – opened in September 2024 and HBO has been scouting for older actors over the past few months to play the adult characters.
In December, reports suggested I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu was the top choice to play Potions professor Severus Snape, played last by Alan Rickman in the film franchise. The same month, rumours suggested Ted Lasso actor Brett Goldstein was being tapped to star as gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, who was originally played by Robbie Coltrane.
Nearly 32,000 children have sent audition tapes for the lead roles of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, but no casting announcements have been made yet.
