Jared Harris, son of late Dumbledore actor Richard Harris, has spoken out about HBO’s upcoming Harry Botter reboot, saying that he doesn't understand why the film series needs to be remade.
"Why do it?" said Harris in an interview with The Independent. "I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone." Jared Harris, like his father, is also an actor and is best known for starring in Mad Men and Chernobyl. Harris was also asked if he has any interest in reprising his father’s role and playing Dumbledore in the upcoming show, to which he simply replied: "No, thank you."
Legendary actor Richard Harris famously played the original Professor Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. However, the star sadly passed around the same time the second movie was released. The role was picked up by Michael Gambon who played the wizard for the next five movies in the seven-film-long series.
The upcoming HBO series was announced last year but met with some controversy and confusion from the Harry Potter community wondering how it would adapt an already seemingly perfect film franchise. Not much is known about the show at this point other than it will consist of seven seasons that will run over the course of 10 years, with each season based on the seven Harry Potter books, just as the movies are.
It is unclear at this time who will play Dumbledore in the show, but according to Jared’s comments, we can certainly take him out of the race. In fact, the series has yet to cast any of its main characters but is holding an open casting to find the next Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger with the only restrictions being that children entering have to be aged between 9 and 11 and from the UK.
The series, which is expected to premiere sometime in 2026, has Killing Eve’s Francesca Gardiner on board as showrunner and executive producer alongside Succession’s Mark Mylod who will also direct multiple episodes.
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It is important to note that the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series has been the subject of criticism and debate due to the show’s executive producer and author J.K. Rowling’s very public and harmful stance on gender identity. It was a similar situation with the Hogwarts Legacy launch. For more, read more about the Hogwarts Legacy controversy.
