John Lithgow says JK Rowling’s controversial views on the transgender community have been “distorted and misrepresented” amid backlash over HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.
Lythgow, who will play Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the TV reboot of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, believes that Rowling’s reactions to her comments are not necessarily accurate, even though Rowling disagrees with many of the things she said.
In an interview with The New Yorker Radio Hour, the 80-year-old actor revealed that he had been urged to leave the project, but “that was not my intention.”
“I felt there was a much stronger reason to do so than to protest Ms. Rowling’s actions or statements,” he said.
“I don’t agree with a lot of it. I think a lot of it is twisted and worded. And she kind of doubled down on it at her own expense.”
As for why he took on the role, Lithgow said, “There was everything appealing about work and job security, even in your later years. You know, you don’t ignore those issues.”
“The whole topic of Rowling’s attribution of bias came up after everything was already going on. I had already said yes.”
The “Giant” star also emphasized that it was the creative team who brought him in, not Rowling.
“I’ve never met her,” he said, adding that showrunner Francesca Gardiner “convinced me. She was a big reason I took this job.”
Still, he did not hold back in his personal response to the author’s rhetoric, saying he was “surprised and disappointed” by the tone of her social media posts.
Earlier this year, Lithgow made a similar point in a speech at the Rotterdam Film Festival, calling Rowling’s views “ironic and inexplicable” and stressing that the books themselves tell a completely different story.
“There’s no trace of transphobic sensibilities in the Potter canon,” he says. “She wrote this meditation on kindness and acceptance, and Dumbledore is a beautiful role.”
The debate has spread to Hollywood, with Andrew Garfield recently calling Rowling “She Who Remains Nameless” and accusing her of supporting “inhuman” causes.
“I know it’s controversial, and we shouldn’t be putting money into an inhumane bill right now through Her Who Must Not Be Named,” Garfield said on Hits Radio, referring to Harry Potter villain Voldemort, also known as “He Who Must Not Be Named.”
“But the soul and spirit of a lot of those movies and the nature of the children’s themes is so great,” he added. “You can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are so many beautiful artists who worked on these films.”
Rowling’s outspoken views on transgender issues drove a wedge between the author and several of the original film’s stars.
Rowling wrote the scathing essay last May, when several Harry Potter actors signed an open letter in support of transgender people after the British Supreme Court ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” strictly refer to biological women and biological sex.
She described the actors, including Eddie Redmayne, Papa Essiedu and Katie Leung, as “colleagues who stab you in the back” and said they were “motivated by fear”.
The HBO series has already received death threats and increased security at production sites after Essiedu was announced as Severus Snape.
Rowling continues to support the reboot, recently responding to a fan who praised early footage, saying, “It’s going to be incredible. I’m very happy with it.”
The new “Harry Potter” series is set to debut on HBO on Christmas 2026 and stream on HBO Max.
