John Lithgow has responded to the controversy over his casting in the upcoming HBO Max adaptation of the Harry Potter novels, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Last February, Lithgow revealed that he would portray Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, the wizarding school that Harry and his friends attend. Other actors who’ve since been cast in the series, set to premiere next year, include Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, and Nick Frost.
Lithgow’s casting drew backlash from critics of author J.K. Rowling who taken issue with the author’s views on transgender people. The author published an essay on her website in 2020 that included the sentence “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman...then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”
She has since made several statements critical of trans people on the social platform X, writing in 2024 that “there are no trans kids” and posting a picture of herself celebrating a United Kingdom’ Supreme Court decision that restricted the legal definition of a woman. She has also lashed out at actors from the Harry Potter films who have spoken out in favor of transgender rights.
Lithgow, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a trans woman in the 1982 film adaptation of John Irving’s novel The World According to Garp, reacted to the controversy during an on-stage discussion at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
“I find it ironic and somewhat inexplicable that Rowling has expressed such views,” Lithgow said. “I’ve read about them, and I’ve never met her. She’s not really involved in this production at all. The people who are re-adapting Harry Potter and turning it into an eight-year-long TV series are remarkable.…These are people I really want to work with.”
He added, “Of course, it upsets me when people are vehemently opposed to my having anything to do with this. 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.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
