While J.K. Rowling has been criticized for her controversial beliefs about the transgender community, John Lithgow said he “absolutely” did not expect all the backlash he got for announcing his involvement with the new Harry Potter TV show.
In an interview with The Times of London on Sunday, April 27, Lithgow, 79, said he was especially surprised why “a very good friend who is the mother of a trans child” sent him an open letter to walk away from the project.
“That was the canary in the coal mine,” Lithgow explained. “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.”
While Rowling’s anti-trans stance did not deter him from taking the role as Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter series, Lithgow said it was a big decision because of his age.
Several celebrities are joining fans who are planning to boycott HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series over J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views. Pedro Pascal shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding Rowling’s involvement in the new series in a recent Instagram comment, as the Harry Potter author will serve as an executive producer on the show. […]
“It’s probably the last major role I’ll play,” he added. “It’s an eight-year commitment so I was just thinking about mortality and that this is a very good winding-down role.”
Rowling’s latest round of backlash comes after she celebrated the U.K. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that “womanhood” is defined by biological sex. She posted a photo via X earlier this month of herself with a drink and a cigar captioned, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
She hasn’t backed down amid the backlash. “‘Trans women’ are male,” she wrote via X on Sunday, April 27. “If they weren’t male they wouldn’t be ‘trans’. Prejudice is an irrational fear or dislike. It is entirely rational to state that a man is a man.”
Rowling first came under fire in 2020 when she publicly supported British researcher Maya Forstater who was fired after making transphobic comments.
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimund? Woomud?” she wrote in a series of tweets. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
Taking a stand. J.K. Rowling‘s controversial transphobic remarks have left both Harry Potter‘s fans and cast members feeling conflicted. The author first came under fire in June 2020, when she shared multiple posts on Twitter that appeared to slam the trans community. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the […]
Following her anti-trans comments, Daniel Radcliffe and other stars of the Harry Potter film series spoke out against Rowling’s views.
“While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment. Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe wrote in an essay published by The Trevor Project in June 2020. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”
In April 2023, HBO announced that they were going to do a TV reboot of Harry Potter with Rowling still attached to the series as an executive producer despite her transphobic comments.
“Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” she said in a statement at the time.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images UPDATE 2/25/25 at 3:37 p.m. ET — The Harry Potter TV show officially has its first cast member. John Lithgow has confirmed reports that he will be playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming series. “Well, it came as a total surprise to me,” the actor, 79, said of getting the part […]
After the announcement of the series, many fans declared they would boycott the show — which Rowling sarcastically called “dreadful news.”
“Activists in my mentions are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show,” she wrote via X in April 2023. “As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne.”
