John Lithgow says he finds JK Rowling’s stance on trans rights ‘ridiculous and inexplicable’ | JK Rowling

John Lithgow has described JK Rowling’s views on transgender rights as “ridiculous and inexplicable”, saying the backlash to his decision to play Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter series “disturbs me”.

Speaking on stage at the Rotterdam Film Festival after a screening of his latest film, Gemba, the 80-year-old actor was asked how he felt about Rowling’s views. Rowling serves as executive producer of the upcoming series, which is produced by HBO and will be one of the most expensive television shows ever produced.

“I take it very seriously,” Lithgow told the audience, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “J.K. Rowling has created this amazing book for young adults, young children’s literature that has leapt into society’s consciousness. Young people and adults love Harry Potter and the Harry Potter stories. It’s very much about acceptance. It’s about good versus evil. It’s about kindness versus cruelty. It’s deeply felt.”

He added: “I find it somewhat ironic and inexplicable that Rowling would express such views.” “I’ve read about them, but I’ve never met her. She’s not really involved in this production at all. The people who are re-adapting Harry Potter and turning it into an eight-year TV series are amazing. … Those are the people I would really want to work with.”

He added: “It bothers me when people are so opposed to me having anything to do with this.” “But in the Potter canon you don’t see any trace of trans sensitivity. She wrote this reflection of kindness and acceptance. And Dumbledore is a beautiful role.”

When Lithgow was announced as Dumbledore, he revealed that a friend with a transgender child had sent him a link to an article titled: “An open letter to John Lithgow: Please stay away from Harry Potter.”

“It was a difficult decision,” Lithgow said in Rotterdam. “It made me uncomfortable and unhappy because people insisted I leave the job. I chose not to do it.”

An audience member expressed disappointment to Lithgow about his decision to remain in the show, and later left the room in protest, Variety reported. “I’m quite prepared for opinions to clash. I understand that,” Lithgow said afterward.

In 2020, Rowling published a 3,600-word online statement criticizing proposed changes to gender recognition laws by explaining her own experiences with sexual assault and domestic violence. She has stated that she opposes “the new trans activism” and opposes cisgender women engaging with trans women, saying it means women are forced to “open the door to any and all men who want to come in.”

She donated £70,000 to For Women Scotland, the campaign group that has played a major role in raising the challenge of how women are defined in the law, and established the JK Rowling Women’s Fund, which supports individuals and organizations “fighting to preserve women’s gender-based rights”.

Other Harry Potter actors, including Nick Frost, who plays Hagrid, and Papa Essidu, who plays Snape, have distanced themselves from Rowling’s views since joining the series. Last year, Rowling said she would not fire Essiedu over his signature on a petition in favor of transgender rights, writing on social media: “I do not have the authority to fire an actor from the series and would not exercise it if I did. I do not believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from my own.”

The lead actors from the original Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, as well as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Eddie Redmayne, have made critical statements distancing themselves from Rowling.

The new Potter series is scheduled to premiere in 2027 and, according to HBO, will be a “faithful adaptation” of Rowling’s books. The eight films based on the books were released between 2001 and 2011, and the series has a similarly ambitious time frame, with Casey Bloys, president and CEO of HBO and Max Content, saying it will run for “10 straight years.”

Lithgow hinted at this in Rotterdam, joking: “I’m the oldest person in this whole room, I’ve just turned 80. And yet I’ve signed a contract – I’m going to play Dumbledore for the next eight years! And I have to keep doing it. And I felt: ‘Great!’” “This means I will live to be 88 years old. I have that in writing.”