John Lithgow spoke at the Rotterdam Film Festival, where his latest film, Jinpa, was screened on Sunday and opened up about playing Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter series.
When asked about JK Rowling’s transgender comments, she said, “I take this topic very seriously. She created this great norm for young people that permeated society’s consciousness. It’s a story about good and evil, kindness and cruelty. I find her views cynical and inexplicable. I’ve never met her and she’s not involved in this work at all. But the people who are involved are remarkable.”
She added: “It’s upsetting when people object to my involvement in this, but there’s no trace of transphobic sensibilities in the Potter canon. She’s written a medium of kindness and acceptance, and Dumbledore is a beautiful role.”
“This was a difficult decision. I felt uncomfortable and frustrated that people were insisting that I step away from work. I chose not to do so.”
“I’m the oldest person in this room, and I just turned 80. But I signed the contract and I’m going to play Dumbledore for the next eight years! I absolutely have to keep doing it. I was like, ‘Wow! That means I’m going to live to be 88.'” And I put that in writing. ”
Still, one audience member still expressed disappointment with his decision. “This is not helpful,” they protested, leaving the room and starting a heated discussion that overshadowed the meeting about Lithgow’s Rotterdam premiere of Jinpa.
“I’m completely prepared for a conflict of opinions, I understand that,” Lithgow said.
He co-starred with Olivia Colman in “Jinpa”.
“Olivia is so accessible to her own emotional life. It’s so authentic. It’s so real to her. She keeps people on the same emotional wavelength. What a wonderful actor,” he said.
Directed by Sophie Hyde, the film follows Hannah (Coleman) as she reunites with her father (Lithgow), who comes out to him later in life. Currently he lives in Amsterdam.
“They are the most welcoming people in the world,” Lithgow said of his experience working with the Dutch crew. “The whole experience was like one big party. Even though I was one percent of the straight staff, I had a great time.”
He also praised Hyde. “Her story, her artistic and emotional instincts…I don’t know if I was the first choice to play her father, but that’s what she told me.” Her mentions also included his appearance in “Love is Strange.”
Hyde, who also produced Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, explained that the film was inspired by her own story.
“My father was a very eccentric homosexual who came out shortly after I was born. When I was a teenager, my father told me he was HIV positive. It was a time of crisis and I thought he was going to die too, but then drugs came along and people started surviving and my father survived. He was there when I had my child.”
He died when her child, Orde Mason-Hyde (also making her film debut), was only 12 years old.
“Then they came out as trans and non-binary and did it publicly, and I wanted them to be in the same room. That impulse was the beginning of that movie,” the director said.
Asked about his heroes, Lithgow said: “I grew up in a theater family surrounded by actors. A lot of them were my absolute heroes. My dad was my hero too, but the actors who were doing Shakespeare plays in the summer in small towns in Ohio were very passionate people. A lot of them were gay by the way. When I was a little boy, I looked up to these gay men. That’s what inspired me to play Jim.”
“Sophie has shared a lot of her own history. She’s given me letters and quotes he’s written. She’s a sneaky director. She’s always leaking little tidbits to you.”
He spoke of the “amazing” rehearsal period and the secret missions she gave the actors.
“She turned us into a real family.”
“That week we didn’t read a single line, we didn’t act out a single scene. But after the first day, I wasn’t nervous or nervous and I didn’t think, ‘What will this Australian think of my accent?'” That was gone. ”
“Oh my god, that was a big love affair,” actor Hans Kesting said. “John was very enthusiastic and there was a lot of love from the beginning.”
“I put brown paper on the floor and had John draw the outline of my body and my scars. Then that connection was made. This was about getting to know each other and hearing each other’s stories. This was also about childhood.” The film touched him “to the core.”
“It’s because of the way Sophie tells the story and the relationships between the characters. It’s such a terrible time right now that you crave heart, laughter, love and togetherness. It’s all in this movie.”
Zoe Love-Smith, another cast member, added, “What a big international role, and working with John and Olivia? I felt a warm feeling right away. I wanted this role, not only because it was a big production, but because it felt so good. I had never rehearsed like that in my life.”
Romana Frede, who also joined the team on stage, called the film “powerful and personal” because of its real-life roots. “It just flows, that’s life. I like how it captures life.”
Regarding acting, Lithgow added: “The styles change, but the fundamentals of storytelling are much the same. The holy grail for any actor is to suspend disbelief and make the audience believe it’s reality and not fiction. They forget they’re actors. Adults will never be able to accomplish that, because they at least know they’re watching them pretending to be actors.”
“I once had a second career entertaining kids and loved it. In their case, they haven’t gotten there yet. They think they’re seeing the real thing! I’d wear a silly hat and sing my songs, or pretend I forgot to take my hat off, and they’d yell, ‘Take off your hat!’ It’s so wonderful. I want that from the audience, even if it’s just for a moment. And that will never change. ”
“I’ve had a long career, but I’ve only had five or six films that met everything I wanted. It’s great to make a film about empathy and kindness in this hothouse of cruelty and abuse of power against people. Jinpa (the character) can be cruel at times, but he’s always trying.”
“The most interesting performance I’ve ever done was lying next to Olivia Colman in a coma. You can see the tears running down my cheeks. It shows that he heard and understood what she was saying. That was very important in creating the reality of the scene,” he recalled.
“I think he was deeply moved by the thought of his own death.”
