John Lithgow Decides Money Is Worth More Than His Morals
After years of updates and speculation, the first trailer for HBO’s Harry Potter series is out in the world. The series has ambitious plans to adapt J.K. Rowling’s iconic children’s books into a new format, hoping to chronicle the events across seven seasons and a decade of television. It’s an effort that has been met with plenty of scrutiny and confusion ever since it was first announced, given both the existing visual aesthetic of the original movies, and Rowling’s extremely controversial behavior and anti-transgender statements in the years since the books were finished.
One actor who was particularly scrutinized for his involvement in the Harry Potter reboot was John Lithgow, who signed on to play Albus Dumbledore in early 2025. In a new profile with The New York Times, Lithgow revealed that he actually nearly walked away from the series altogether amid the controversy. Ultimately, he decided to stay in the role, while recognizing that “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”
The article claims that Lithgow has never met Rowling and does not agree with her views on the transgender community, and that he thinks the story of the Harry Potter books is “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry.” Later in the article, Lithgow’s role of author and illustrator Roald Dahl (who certainly has his own problematic history) in the play Giant is brought up, and leads the actor to argue that “everybody is” worthy of redemption.
The article also references previous statements from actor Aud Mason-Hyde, who plays Lithgow’s transgender grandchild in the recently released film Jimpa. Earlier this year, Mason-Hyde previously told Out Magazine that “there’s an element of this that feels vaguely hurtful,” but argued that the 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 and actually how incredibly authentically he played the role.”
Jimpa director (and Aud’s mother) Sophie Hyde weighs in on the ordeal in the Times article, explaining that: “John’s work comes from a place of deep empathy and humanity, and that bigger political conversation is not one he’s engaging in… Sometimes you have to think about who you’re working with and for, not who you’re working against.”
What Is the Harry Potter TV Series About?
According to HBO’s official description for the Harry Potter series, there is nothing special about Harry Potter – at least that’s what his Aunt Petunia always says. On his 11th birthday, a letter of admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opens up a hidden world for Harry: one of fun, friendship and magic. But with this new adventure comes great risk as Harry is forced to face a dangerous enemy from his past.
The series stars Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas, Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe, William Nash as Gregory Goyle, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, and Sirine Saba as Pomona Sprout.
The Harry Potter television show will premiere this Christmas, exclusively on HBO.
(featured image: HBO)
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