Jared Harris has said he will not be following his father by playing Dumbledore in the forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
Richard Harris played the character in 2001’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone movie and he reprised the role in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets the following year.
But he died in October 2002 and Michael Gambon took over the role for the rest of the film franchise.
When asked about playing Dumbledore in the forthcoming series, Jared Harris said: “No thank you. Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.”
Despite his thoughts on the role he did admit that “a lot of storytelling” was left out of the original films and which can now be included in the forthcoming HBO series.
Meanwhile, Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black in the film franchise, recently told IndieWire he would be open to playing Dumbledore “maybe in a few years.”
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Casting calls for the main stars of the forthcoming series were announced earlier this month.
The casting call stated that it was looking for children who will be between the ages of nine and 11 in April 2025 and who are residents of the UK and Ireland. The notice also stated that Warner Bros. and HBO are committed to “inclusive, diverse casting” for the roles advertised.
But they were accused of “wokeness” following the casting call to all races, ethnicities and gender identities.
The show is expected to run for seven seasons, with each adapting one of the books in J.K. Rowling’s series. Rowling is also said to be involved with the series, which many fans objected to.
It was recently announced that the series would see Succession duo Francesca Gardiner as its writer and showrunner, and Mark Mylod as director on multiple episodes.
Cillian Murphy fans have also expressed an interest in the actor taking up the role of Voldemort in the show.