John Lithgow has revealed he considered dropping out of the new Harry Potter TV show because of the backlash he received over the JK Rowling controversy.
The 80-year-old actor, who will play Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, previously said he was “upset” that he’s being criticised for signing up to the HBO series, clarifying that he believes her views on transgender rights to be “ironic and inexplicable”.
Lithgow opened up on the subject in a new interview, revealing he accepted the role as, despite Rowling’s beliefs, her best-selling books are “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry”.
The New York Times notes that the actor “considered quitting the series but decided not to” – and now believes he will be asked about Rowling in “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life”. Lithgow has not met the author.
Lithgow’s decision to sign up to the project was questioned by Aud Mason-Hyde, his non-binary co-star in Sophia Hyde’s Jimpa. In the film, Lithgow plays the gay grandfather of a non-binary teenager, played by Mason-Hyde.
Mason-Hyde told OUT that their positive experience working with Lithgow led to feeling “vaguely hurt” by his “strange” decision to play Dumbledore.
“I never felt invalidated or questioned or doubted in my identity or in my transness by him,” they told OUT. “I consistently felt that he was a very loving and a very guiding co-star, and so there’s an element of this that feels vaguely hurtful.”
Mason-Hyde added: “But also I think that he’s making this decision after we had made the film and after we had premiered the film, can’t take away from what we had and the time that we spent together and the beautiful work that he does in this movie and actually how incredibly authentically he played the role.”
They said learning the news “was definitely a difficult moment in time”, adding: “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.”
However, Lithgow said at Jimpa’s Rotterdam Film Festival premiere that he takes the subject “extremely seriously”, adding that the author is “not really involved in this production at all”.
He added that he finds it particularly confusing that Rowling espouses such beliefs, considering that Harry Potter is about “kindness versus cruelty”.
“JK 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.”
In the last six years, Rowling has repeatedly come under fire for various comments about gender, with many, including stars of the Potter film adaptations, accusing her of transphobia.
This has led to consternation being directed at the stars who have signed up to the new series. Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall), Katherine Parkinson (Molly Weasley) and Johnny Flynn (Lucius Malfoy) are among those who will also appear in the show.
Frost previously spoke out on Rowling’s views, telling The Observer: “She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine – they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.”
Frost’s opinions echo those of Paapa Essiedu, who will play Severus Snape in the HBO series. Shortly after his casting was announced, the actor was among the hundreds of TV and film professionals who signed a letter calling for industry action on trans rights.
The letter was compiled in the wake of the controversial UK Supreme Court ruling that gender is legally based on biological sex, a decision that was celebrated by controversial author Rowling and decried by LGBT+ activist groups.
After Essiedu’s appearance as a signatory on the letter, an “insider” told MailOnline that Rowling would “not be bothered one iota by Essiedu’s decision – and wouldn’t dream of intervening to get him sacked, despite being heavily involved in the project”.
Addressing this report X/Twitter, Rowling wrote: “I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did. I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.”
The Harry Potter series is being filmed now and will premiere in 2027.
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