John Lithgow's non-binary co-star says his Harry Potter role is 'hurtful' amid JK Rowling anti-trans fallout - after veteran actor branded opposition to his casting 'upsetting'

John Lithgow's non-binary co-star Aud Mason-Hyde has branded his casting in the upcoming Harry Potter series 'hurtful and difficult'. 

The American actor, 80, is set to play Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming HBO TV adaptation of JK Rowling's wizarding world, which currently comprises seven books and an eight part film series. 

The franchise has been plagued with controversy due to creator JK's resounding opposition to transgender rights, which first came to light in 2019, after which she was branded a TERF [trans exclusionary radical feminist].  

While Aud, who stars alongside John and Olivia Colman in 2025 movie Jimpa, conceded that the actor is 'a beautiful human', they branded his casting 'disconcerting, difficult and hurtful'. 

Their comments come in the wake of John speaking out about criticism over his role, saying: 'It upsets me when people are vehemently opposed to me having anything to do with this. But in Potter canon you see no trace of transphobic sensitivity.'

Aud plays Olivia's character Hannah's non-binary child Frances, while John plays Hannah's father Jim, known as Jimpa, who they visit in Amsterdam. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in January 2025.

It was revealed in April last year that John has scooped the role of the cherished school overseer, alongside Paapa Essiedu would be Severus Snape, Janet McTeer would be Minerva McGonagall and Nick Frost would appear as Rubeus Hagrid. 

In the wake of the announcement, John revealed that a friend with a trans child sent him a link to an article entitled: 'An open letter to John Lithgow: Please walk away from Harry Potter' - something he admitted made him feel 'uncomfortable'. 

Now, despite speaking fondly of their co-star, Aud has hit out at their co-star and voiced disappointment over his decision to take the part. 

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

'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...

'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...

'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.'

In the wake of criticism and in anticipation of more, John spoke at the Rotterdam Film Festival last week about his feelings toward naysayers. 

He said: 'I take the subject extremely seriously. 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. It's about kindness versus cruelty....

'It's deeply felt. I find it ironic and somewhat inexplicable that Rowling has expressed such views. 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.'

'It upsets me when people are vehemently opposed to me having anything to do with this. But in Potter canon you see no trace of transphobic sensitivity. She has written this meditation of kindness and acceptance. And Dumbledore is a beautiful role.'

He continued: 'It was a hard decision. It made me uncomfortable and unhappy that people insisted I walk away from the job. I chose not to do that.' 

Their comments come after co-star Olivia said she has always 'felt sort of nonbinary' as the actress opened up about her identity in a new interview.

Olivia, 52, who is best known for her roles in The Crown, The Favourite and Heartstopper and has been married to her husband Ed Sinclair for 25 years, said she has never felt comfortable with rigid gender roles, including in her own marriage.

In the midst of the Jimpa promo trail, she explained: 'Throughout my whole life, I've had arguments with people where I've always sort of felt nonbinary.

'I've never felt massive feminine in my being female. I've always described myself to my husband as a gay man. And he goes, "Yeah I get that." And so I do feel at home and at ease.'

She added to Them: 'I don't really spend a whole lot of time with people who are very staunchly heterosexual... The men I know and love are very in touch with all sides of themselves.

'I think with my husband and I, we take turns to be the "strong one", or the one who needs a little bit of gentleness. I believe everyone has all of it in them. I've always felt like that.

'I'm not alone in saying, "I don't feel like it's binary." And I loved that. I came away from making this film with, yeah, I knew I wasn't alone.

Nonbinary is a term used to describe a person's gender identity that falls outside the traditional male and female binary.

Olivia and Ed married in 2001, and share three children - Finn, 20, Hall, 18, and a ten-year-old daughter, after falling in love in the nineties while rehearsing for a Cambridge Footlights production of Alan Ayckbourn's Table Manners. At the time, Olivia was studying teaching at Homerton College, Cambridge.