As HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series continues to face backlash before it even debuts, one star is making his stance clear.
Following his casting as Dumbledore, John Lithgow recently clarified that he has never met the books’ author J.K. Rowling, and he doesn’t agree with her anti-transgender views, which have plagued the show’s production.
The 2x Oscar nominee explained to The New York Times that he took the role as he sees the books being “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry.”
After his non-binary Jimpa co-star Aud Mason-Hyde criticized the decision to take the role, Lithgow accepts that “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”
Mason-Hyde previously told OUT that the casting “feels vaguely hurtful,” adding, “It was definitely a difficult moment in time. 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.”
Last April, Lithgow was cast as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter, which comes from writer/showrunner Francesca Gardiner, an executive producer alongside Mark Mylod, who will direct multiple episodes for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros Television.
The series adaptation comes as Rowling faces continued fallout over her anti-transgender views from fans and peers alike, including stars of the franchise and director Christopher Columbus.
Rowling previously celebrated UK’s Supreme Court ruling that prohibits trans women from being legally recognized as women. More than 400 people signed a letter urging the country’s film and television industry to take action on trans rights, including Paapa Essiedu, who has been cast in the Harry Potter series as Professor Snape.
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