J.K. Rowling backlash surprises 'Harry Potter' series star John Lithgow

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John Lithgow didn’t think signing up for the new Harry Potter series would be so controversial.

The veteran actor said he has received a lot of negative feedback after accepting the role of Albus Dumbledore in HBO’s TV reboot, set to premiere in 2027. Critics cited Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s comments about the transgender community.

“I thought, ‘Why is this a factor at all?’ I wonder how J.K. Rowling has absorbed it. I suppose at a certain point I’ll meet her and I’m curious to talk to her,” he recently told Britain’s The Times.

Lithgow said he didn’t expect to receive so much backlash.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “Of course, it was a big decision because it’s probably the last major role I’ll play. It’s an eight-year commitment so I was just thinking about mortality and that this is a very good winding-down role.”

Lithgow said he received a text message from a friend who sent him a link to an article titled, “An Open Letter to John Lithgow: Please Walk Away From Harry Potter,” after he was one of the first actors announced for the series.

The 79-year-old said he also received a text from a very good friend “who is the mother of a trans child.”

In recent years, Rowling has publicly expressed her opinions about transgender women, stating that only biological women are women and arguing that Trans women should not participate in female-dominated sports.

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Earlier this month, Rowling applauded the U.K. Supreme Court judgment that ruled trans women should not be considered women.

“I love it when a plan comes together,” she wrote on X alongside a photo of her smoking a cigar and holding a drink, adding the hashtags #SupremeCourt and #WomensRights.

Despite the negative responses, Lithgow said he is not feeling discouraged or considering stepping down from the role.

In fact, he believed an American taking on the Dumbledore role, a British character in the Harry Potter novels, would be the main concern among Harry Potter fans.

Also, Lithgow thought it was “odd” that nobody found fault with him after he agreed to play author Roald Dahl in the play Giant in London’s West End. Dahl’s family publicly apologized for the author’s antisemitism in December 2020.

“No one complained when I agreed to play Dahl, but I’ve received so many messages about J.K. Rowling,” he said. “Isn’t that odd?”

In addition to Lithgow as Dumbledore, the new TV series has cast Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, and Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell.

The roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione have not yet been cast.