John Lithgow Almost Quit The Harry Potter TV Series

by Mychal ThompsonBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffIf you must know, I based my entire personality on Seasons 2-5 of "Girls," and I'm a huge gamer.

Recently, John Lithgow revealed why he almost backed out of playing one of the most iconic characters in modern cinematic history — Albus Dumbledore.

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Depending on when you were born, you might best know the six-time Emmy-winning actor for his roles as Dick Solomon or the Trinity Killer in TV shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) or Dexter (2009).

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Maybe you know the two-time Tony winner for his theatrical roles, like his Broadway debut as Kenny Kendal in The Changing Room (1972) or, most recently, his portrayal of Roald Dahl in Giant (2024-2025).

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Or perhaps you recognize him from his movie roles as the transgender ex-football player Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp or the voice of Lord Farquaad in Shrek.

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As for the youngest generation, they're probably going to know him specifically as Albus, the headmaster of Hogwarts in the HBO adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series, albeit barely.

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In a Mar. 17 interview with the New York Times, John said he reportedly considered quitting the show due to the extreme backlash he received after the casting was announced, over Rowling's anti-trans views.

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Lithgow admitted that he's yet to meet the Harry Potter author and doesn't agree with her anti-trans rhetoric, but at its core, the series is "clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry."

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In the interview, NYT reported that while Lithgow felt "stung" by the backlash, he decided not to quit the show.

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Given the nature of the lengthy series, a commitment to retell seven books (on average 480 to 600 pages long) will have Lithgow locked in for years, and with that, he understands the topic of Rowling's views will come up in "every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life."

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Last month, Lithgow talked about Rowling's trans statements in an interview with Variety. "I take the subject extremely seriously," he said. "She has created this amazing canon for young people, and it has jumped into the consciousness of the society. It's about good versus evil, kindness versus cruelty. I find her views ironic and inexplicable. I've never met her, she's not really involved in this production at all. But the people who are, are remarkable."

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Lithgow added that it "upsets" him that people want him to distance himself from the project, as there's "no trace of transphobic sensitivity" in the source material. "It was a hard decision," Lithgow said of keeping the role. "It made me uncomfortable and unhappy that people insisted I walk away from the job. I chose not to do that."

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Interestingly, Lithgow recently starred in the queer drama Jimpa as Jim Hyde, the gay grandfather of a nonbinary teenager, played by trans, non-binary actor Aud Mason-Hyde. In a Feb. 5 interview with Out, Lithgow's costar revealed his casting in Harry Potter "was definitely a difficult moment in time."

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"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," they said.

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"He is such an incredibly talented actor, but also such a beautiful human to make work with, and that was my experience with John," they said. "I never felt invalidated or questioned or doubted in my identity or in my transness by him."

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And while they considered him a "very loving and a very guiding costar," they acknowledged there's still pain behind his decision. "And so there's an element of this that feels vaguely hurtful," they 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."

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Lithgow's body of work is extraordinary, and his connection to work that elevates the voices of LGBTQ+ people is evident. Still, I'm curious how his decision to play Dumbledore will play into that legacy. Now, he will follow in the footsteps of previous Dumbledores and acting legends, Michael Gambon and Richard Harris, but at what cost?

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