John Lithgow Doesn't Think Playing Dumbledore In Harry Potter Series Is 'Gonna Be That Hard Job'

Actor John Lithgow isn't nervous about playing Albus Dumbledore in HBO's next Harry Potter TV series.

The 79-year-old actor has been cast as the wizard headmaster.

He told hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett that he's "behind everybody" as he's only now reading the book series, which was written by J.K. Rowling, and is "halfway through the second" book right now.

"The overall concept of this entire reboot of Harry Potter is an entire season is devoted to a single novel," Lithgow said of the series, which HBO announced in April 2023.

Lithgow shared that he is not entirely sure how his schedule is going to be once the series starts production this summer.

"I honestly don't know," he told Hayes after he asked how long he'd have to be in London to film. "I mean, I was over in England for eight months for The Crown and barely came back [to the US]. I think I may have come back once or twice. I imagine that I can come back much more [on this]," reported People.

Lithgow talked about his character, saying, "You know, Dumbledore is -- he's kind of the nuclear weapon. He only goes on very, very occasionally. And I think that -- I don't think it's gonna be that hard a job, and, we'll just go back and forth."

Lithgow is the only confirmed casting so far for the series, though several outlets reported that British actor Paapa Essiedu has been in talks to play Severus Snape, the role originally played by the late Alan Rickman in the films, reported People.

MENAFN24062025000049011007ID1109718239