Culture news “Dispassionate”: This Lord of the Rings actor had a good reason to refuse this key role in the Harry Potter films
While he could have been part of this emblematic saga, he voluntarily missed this chance and we know the reason.
Harry Potter, a saga with iconic actors
For a decade, fans around the world have watched actors grow up with them. We are talking in particular about Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson who played the trio of friends at the center of the story, as did Tom Felton who was Harry’s rival. The latter were on screen from 2001 to 2011 in no less than eight films, to adapt the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. Now inseparable from this magical universe imagined by JK Rowling, it is difficult to imagine a new casting. However, the HBO reboot in series form will welcome new actors to play these iconic characters in 2026.
In addition to the actors who played the students at the Hogwarts school of magic, the teachers are also inseparable from this saga which dominated the 2000s. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, Alan Rickman who left his mark with his interpretation of Rogue and Michael Gambon who succeeded Richard Harris to play Albus Dumbledore. However, few know that instead of the latter, it was Ian McKellen who should have taken over the role of director of the magic school.
Ian McKellen should have been Dumbledore
In the 2000s, Ian McKellen was Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but also Magneto in X-Men. Or two roles in iconic big-budget productions. However, he could also have been Dumbledore to replace Richard Harris who passed away in 2002. The now 84-year-old actor refused this role for a very simple reason: he did not appreciate a reflection by Richard Harris when he was alive. The latter described Ian McKellen, as well as other actors, as “technically brilliant, but without passion”. A simple comment that completely dissuaded the British actor from playing the old director: “I couldn’t take on the role of an actor who I knew didn’t approve of me,” he declared to the BBC a few years later. In other words, we went from seeing Ian McKellen in the shoes of Albus Dumbledore.