Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: harry potter

Harry Potter: John Lithgow Promises Dumbledore Will Remain Englishman

John Lithgow shared that Dumbledore will be an Englishman in HBO's Harry Potter series, and he will be working with a dialect coach.

Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO and Warner Bros. TV might not be saying a whole lot about their upcoming multi-season series adaptation of bestselling author J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels from showrunner/writer Francesca Gardiner and director/EP Mark Mylod, but Emmy Award-winner John Lithgow (Dexter, The Crown) seems to have a whole lot to say. After surprising a lot of folks by confirming his casting as Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and addressing his age as a factor during an interview with ScreenRant while promoting The Rule of Jenny Penn, Lithgow had even more insights and details to share with Collider – beginning with how Dumbledore will remain British.

"[He's] certainly an Englishman. In fact, there's a good deal of controversy that an American has been hired to play him. He's such an icon. I'm half-English. I've just played Roald Dahl. I've played Winston Churchill. I'll spend some time with a dialect coach. Don't worry about that. But no, I mean Dumbledore couldn't possibly be anything other than English. I just have to do my best," Lithgow shared during the conversation, with a clip available for you to check out below. "The wonderful thing is, I was welcomed by every English actor I worked with on 'The Crown.' They had far more confidence in me and my Englishness than I did myself."

Harry Potter: Some of What We Know So Far…

Revealing that 32,000 young actors auditioned for the lead roles of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, Gardiner shared back in December 2024 that she "devoured" the books when she was 14 years old and that Rowling's novels offer a "bigger sandpit to play in" than the films. In terms of other characters' ages, we learned that the series is looking to keep them in canon (meaning Snape would be in his really Early 30s, and the Dursleys would be much younger than their big-screen counterparts). Other details shared by Gardiner included how the series will focus more on the Hogwarts staff  and "having fun with [poltergeist] Peeves in the corridor." Mylod added that viewers should expect the series to "dig into the depths and crevices of Hogwarts."

The stories from each of Rowling's Harry Potter books will become (from the initial statement that was released when the series news first dropped) "a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love, and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of fantastic detail, much-loved characters, and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years. Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic, and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally."

The series is written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve). Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.

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