John Lithgow Defended His Right to Play Dumbledore. Now His Past Co-Star Is Sharing Their Upset Over It
Given how the name of its creator, J.K. Rowling, is synonymous with controversy these days, any actor who signs on to play a Harry Potter character in the upcoming live-action HBO adaptation probably expects some measure of backlash.
J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views have turned her Wizarding World into a political minefield, whether we’re talking about Avalanche’s Hogwarts Legacy game—which was subjected to extensive boycotting campaigns—or HBO’s latest attempt to remake the series for television.
Now that the HBO crew is busy bringing this new rendition to life, the media scrutiny will only get worse, especially considering the fact that J.K. Rowling simply can’t leave well enough alone, and has to tweet her opinions about every little thing—political or otherwise—that transpires around the world.
But strangely, this latest episode involves the new Albus Dumbledore. The talented John Lithgow has been tapped to play the Hogwarts headmaster in this reimagining. And Aud Mason-Hyde, the non-binary actor who starred opposite him in the queer family drama Jimpa, has recently spoken out about their complicated feelings regarding this casting.
“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, per Deadline. “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.”
Where does this put Lithgow?
Mason-Hyde, who viewed Lithgow as “in some capacity a mentor” during filming, described the casting as “definitely a difficult moment in time” and called the decision “strange” and “disconcerting.” It’s the kind of emotional whiplash that comes from watching someone you respect and admire make a choice that feels fundamentally at odds with the relationship you built together.
It’s not that Lithgow or the rest of the industry talent associated with Harry Potter agree with Rowling’s sentiments regarding the trans community, but the author is technically an executive producer on the project.
For his part, Lithgow has been making the press rounds defending his decision with the enthusiasm of someone who really, really wants you to understand his reasoning. At the Rotterdam Film Festival, he called Rowling’s views “ironic and inexplicable,” insisting that he takes the trans community’s concerns “extremely seriously.”
Mason-Hyde was careful to note that Lithgow’s decision “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.”
Lithgow has actual credentials when it comes to trans representation. His 1982 performance as Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp earned him an Oscar nomination. Many hailed the performance groundbreaking and compassionate, a significant step forward for LGBTQ+ visibility in mainstream cinema.
That decades-old role now sits in an awkward conversation with his current Harry Potter commitment, creating the kind of nuanced tension that may not fit very well into how social media as a whole operates these days.
(featured image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
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