John Lithgow Responds to ‘Odd’ Backlash Over ‘Harry Potter’ Casting

John Lithgow has responded to the backlash over his participation in the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series. The Conclave actor joined the cast as Albus Dumbledore despite anti-trans rhetoric from author J.K. Rowling, who is an executive producer on the show.

Lithgow told The Times in the U.K. over the weekend that the potential controversy wasn’t a concern for him. “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 explained that he had been sent an article titled “An Open Letter to John Lithgow: Please Walk Away from Harry Potter” by a “very good friend” who has a trans daughter. He called that moment “the canary in the coal mine.” Still, he was surprised by the level of criticism.

“Of course, it was a big decision because it’s probably the last major role I’ll play,” he said. “It’s an eight-year commitment so I was just thinking about mortality and that this is a very good winding-down role.”

Lithgow added that there was not a similar backlash to him playing Roald Dahl in West End play Giant, even though the author was a known anti-semite. “No one complained when I agreed to play Dahl, but I’ve received so many messages about J.K. Rowling,” he noted. “Isn’t that odd?”

The actor was announced as part of the series earlier this month alongside Nick Frost, Janet McTeer, and Paapa Essiedu. There has been considerable outrage over Rowling’s involvement in the series, which is a new adaptation of the Harry Potter books. HBO has doubled down on her participation as a producer.

“J.K. is an executive producer, and her insights will be helpful,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, said . “We are in the Harry Potter business. The TV show is new and exciting, but we’ve been in the Harry Potter business for 20 years; this isn’t a new decision. We’re comfortable being in the Potter business. J.K. is a very online conversation. It’s very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what’s onscreen. The Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive about love and acceptance, and that’s our priority, what’s on the screen.”

Rowling has been an outspoken critic of trans people, often endangering them with her aggressive rhetoric. Numerous actors from the original film series and fellow celebrities have spoken out about her treatment of trans people and her involvement in the recent legal campaign in the U.K. to define women as those born biologically female.

Last week, Pedro Pascal blasted Rowling’s anti-trans stance in response to the author celebrating a recent U.K. ruling that transgender women should not be recognized as women under Britain’s Equality Act. The actor’s response to Rowling was posted in the comments of an Instagram video posted by activist Tariq Ra’ouf, who pointed out Rowling’s financial connection to the For Women Scotland campaign that ultimately resulted in the U.K. Supreme Court ruling.

“Awful disgusting SHIT is exactly right,” Pascal wrote in response to Ra’ouf’s video. “Heinous LOSER behavior.”