Sir Ian McKellen has revealed that he was offered the role of Albus Dumbledore after Richard Harris died, and the reason he said no to the part is surprising.
In a new interview with BBC Hardtalk, McKellen strongly hints that he was up for the role of the Hogwarts Headmaster after the death of Harris in October 2002.
“When they called me up and said would I be interested in being in the Harry Potter films [following Harris’s death], they didn’t say in what part,” McKellen said. “I worked out what they were thinking, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t take over the part from an actor [Richard Harris] who I’d known didn’t approve of me.”
McKellen doesn’t explain why Harris didn’t approve of him, which is unfortunate, because now we’re very curious if it’s true.
While McKellen didn’t specifically say they were looking for a new Dumbledore when they called him, he did say to Hardtalk, “Sometimes, when I see the posters of Mike Gambon, the actor who gloriously plays Dumbledore, I think sometimes it is me.”
Harris played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies. Michael Gambon stepped in from Prisoner of Azkaban onward.
Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling are currently in the midst of casting a younger version of Dumbledore for Fantastic Beasts, where the character is expected to play a key role as Newt and Albus take on Grindelwald. Maybe we can ask Ian McKellen again?
McKellen, of course, plays another iconic wizard in film: Gandalf. So we can’t get too mad at him for turning down Harry Potter.
Do you think Ian McKellen should’ve said yes to playing Dumbledore?
*Braces for heated discussion on whether Richard Harris or Michael Gambon was a better Dumbledore*
Source: Slashfilm
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