Actor John Lithgow has shared how he’s feeling about playing Albus Dumbledore ahead of shooting the new Harry Potter series.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Smartless podcast, Lithgow told hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett that he doesn’t think the role is going to be “that hard” (via People).
The actor was discussing the potential shooting schedule for the show, which starts production this summer. When asked how long he’d be filming in London, Lithgow said: “I honestly don’t know. I mean, I was over in England for eight months for The Crown and barely came back [to the U.S.]. I think I may have come back once or twice. I imagine that I can come back much more [on this].”
He continued: “You know, Dumbledore is — he’s kind of the nuclear weapon. He only goes on very, very occasionally. And I think that — I don’t think it’s gonna be that hard a job, and we’ll just go back and forth.”
The star also said that he’s “behind everybody” as he is only just currently reading the second book in the series, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.
Lithgow confirmed his casting in HBO’s TV series reboot of J.K. Rowling’s young wizard story in February, saying that it was a “hard decision” to accept the role because “it’s going to define me for the last chapter of my life”. Fans initially reacted quite negatively to the news, expressing concerns with his age and US nationality.
He’s the fourth actor to play the Hogwarts headmaster in adulthood, following Richard Harris and Michael Gambon in the main Harry Potter films and Jude Law from the Fantastic Beasts prequels.
No other casting has been formally announced, but it was reported earlier this month that Janet McTeer and Paapa Essiedu were in talks to fill the roles of Professor Minerva McGonagall and Professor Severus Snape respectively. In December 2024 showrunner Francesca Gardiner revealed that over 32,000 children had auditioned for the series.
David Tennant, who appeared as Barty Crouch Jr. in 2005’s Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, recently made a subtle dig at Rowling when asked whether he might be joining the show.
Elsewhere, former Potter star Jessie Cave recently shared her plans to launch a new OnlyFans account, selling “sensual” hair content.