One thing about John Lithgow that is undeniable is that he is very much not English. Nevertheless, he’s been picked to play the very, very English icon Dumbledore in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series.
But “don’t worry about that,” the actor assured fan in a recent interview. He plans to “spend some time with a dialect coach” to make sure he gets the accent right.
“he’s certainly an Englishman. In fact, there’s a good deal of controversy that an American has been hired to play him,” Lithgow said while speaking to Collider in an interview posted Thursday.
Taking a moment to remind people that he famously portrayed Winston Churchill in the hit Netflix drama “The Crown,” Lithgow said, “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.”
“The wonderful thing is,” he continued, “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.”
Watch the interview here:
So far, HBO has been incredibly tight-fisted with details about the series. Aside from Lithgow, the only known casting is that “I May Destroy You” actor Paapa Essiedu is being eyed to play Severus Snape, the Hogwarts’ potions master who becomes Harry Potter’s teaching nemesis until ultimately being revealed as a tragic hero, a role previously played — and made iconic — by the late Alan Rickman in the film series.
The show is slated to begin filming in summer 2025 at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, where the eight Warner Bros. “Harry Potter” movies were filmed. In the interview with Collider, Lithgow said he’ll begin work on the show in August.