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Albus Dumbledore is one of the most iconic characters in theHarry Potterfranchise , but the Dumbledore thespian changed part way through the film serial . Dumbledore was played by Michael Gambon in six movies and Jude Law in theFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themspin - offs , but was ab initio portrayed by Irish histrion Richard Harris in the first two Harry Potter picture . When the role was initially being cast , player Patrick McGoohan and Sean Connery were targeted for the part . Harris was eventually chosen as Dumbledore and was expected to encounter the part throughout the intact film dealership .
Harris initially hesitated to take the role due to his wellness , but the thespian was boost by his new granddaughter . The thespian perfectly be the exceptional wizard and Harry ’s mentor in the dealership ’s first two installments . But before the release ofChamber of Secretsin November 2002 , Harris ' wellness took a turn for the worse . After being hospitalize with an unwellness , Harris was name with Hodgkin ’s lymphoma . He remained cheerful and toldHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabandirector Alfonso Cuarónnot to recast his part , but the Dumbledore histrion change shortly conform to .
Richard Harris' Death Made It Necessary To Recast Dumbledore
The Legendary Actor Was 72 Years Old
Despite his hopes to fall as Dumbledore , Richard Harris woefully spend off from Hodgkin ’s lymphoma at the eld of 72 , a few months after ask Cuarón to hold the purpose . TheHarry Potterfilm serieswas then task with recast the Dumbledore character in the hopes that the next actor could stick around for the end of the franchise . Harris ' land tenure as Dumbledore was iconic and tragically brief . Recasting the use was a delicate process that need a neat quite a little of caution and care to ensure the cinematic change was as bland as potential .
The Process Of Recasting Dumbledore For The Harry Potter Franchise
Christopher Lee And Ian McKellen Were Considered For The Role
Cuarón and the balance of theHarry Pottercrew spend months trying to fill again the role of Dumbledore forPrisoner of Azkaban — and beyond . Severalpopular and set up doer almost play Albus Dumbledore , including Christopher Lee , who was a top choice but could n’t send due to programing conflicts . FellowLord of the RingsstarIan McKellen was also considered for Dumbledore , but he felt uncomfortable lead the role due to his rocky kinship with Harris .
Dumbledore Actors :
Actor
First Appearance
Last Appearance
issue Of Appearances
Richard Harris
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer ’s Stone ( 2001 )
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ( 2002 )
2
Michael Gambon
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 ( 2011 )
Custom Image by SR Editor
6
Jude Law
tremendous wolf : The Crimes of Grindelwald ( 2018 )
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students' time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
antic Beasts : The Secrets of Dumbledore ( 2022 )
After Peter O’Toole ’s age and wellness status became worrisome , the manufacturer went with Michael Gambon as Harris ' official replacement as Dumbledore . Gambon , another Irish - born actor , recreate Dumbledore for the stay six films in theHarry Potterseries . His personation became one of the actor ’s best - known roles , but his variation of the character was drastically unlike from his predecessor . This initially confuse many rooter off , but his prominence and length of service in the enfranchisement won fans over .
The actor decided early on that he would n’t stress to copy Harris ' carrying out and , alternatively , made Dumbledore his own . The setting were inauspicious , but Gambon stepped up in a time of penury and give the darling book character a special on - filmdom counterpart , right up to Dumbledore ’s iconic end inHarry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince .
Michael Gambon Wasn’t In The Harry Potter Reunion
Gambon’s Health Was Rumored To Be The Reason
Despite having taken on the iconic function of Dumbledore , Michael Gambon was blazing in his absence seizure in the reunion special , Harry Potter 20th Anniversary : Return to Hogwarts . Sadly , it ’s believe that Gambon ’s absence seizure was due to his poor health too , as the actor reported in 2015 that he had difficulty with memory loss , which was sham his power to move . This has n’t been formally confirm , and no prescribed understanding was given for Gambon ’s absence inReturn to Hogwarts , but the actor did pass away in 2023 .
Jude Law’s Dumbledore Is A New Focal Point Of Fantastic Beasts
Dumbledore’s Relationship With Grindlewald Is An Essential Backstory
Jude Law ’s iteration of the younger Dumbledore has become the axis upon which theFantastic Beastsfranchise spins . Newt Scamander ( Eddie Redmayne ) remains the lens through which the interview have the 1920s Wizarding World . Still , the conflict between Dumbledore and Grindelwald , his lover / mortal enemy ( played by Johnny Depp / Mads Mikkelsen ) is the focus of the narrative . While this does make the scenes with Newt palpate a little like watchingHarry Potterentirely from Ron ’s perspective , it ’s given many fans what they want — more geographic expedition into Albus Dumbledore .
Jude Law ’s personation of Albus Dumbledorealso finally explores one reason he ’s so authoritative not just in the context of the Wizarding World , but as a fictional type in a big - budget , family - oriented , multimillion - dollar Hollywood franchise : Dumbledore ’s gender . Grindelwald was n’t just an evil sorcerer to be put down like Voldemort — he was Dumbledore ’s former fan .
While some controversy survive in both theHarry Potterfanbase and LGBTQ+ community of interests about how much was / is not evidence of their relationship inFantastic Beasts : The Secrets of Dumbledore , the movie did finally admit on the big screen that Dumbledore is gay and that he and Grindelwald were romantically postulate .
Credence Barebone’s True Origins Change How We See The Dumbledore Family
Fantastic Beasts 3 Brought Up More Questions About Dumbledore’s Past
wondrous Beasts 3contained a significant game twist : Albus is n’t the only Dumbledore with secret , because Credence Barebone ( Ezra Miller ) is a secret Dumbledore . As Albus discovered , Credence Barebone is actually Aurelius Dumbledore , the Logos of Aberforth Dumbledore ( Richard Coyle ) , Albus ' brother . This makes Credence / Aurelius Dumbledore ’s long - lost nephew , and the three Dumbledore men coming to term with this truth is a vital composition of the movie ’s final deed .
While it does cease somewhat happily , with Credence / Aurelius and Aberforth reconnecting , it open up many questions . Aberforth is bring up only once in the book . Still , in noHarry Pottermedium has Dumbledore ever spoken of a nephew , much less one with necktie to evil wizards like Grindelwald and an uncanny resemblance toHarry Potter ’s Severus Snape .
There were many more questions that could have been suffice through further exploration of Albus Dumbledore ’s past tense . However , withtheFantastic Beastsfranchise seeming done , those questions may remain unreciprocated .
Dumbledore Will Be Recast In The Future Of Harry Potter
The Harry Potter Show Will Have Yet Another Take On The Character
Though theFantastic Beastsmovies failed to reignite the franchise , the Wizarding World is moving onward with some new projects that could see the tax return of Albus Dumbledore . There have been rumors about the opening of aHarry Potter and the Cursed Childmovie — based on the popular stage child’s play , which hit London theaters on July 31 , 2016 . The book itself was released on the same day . The play was not pen directly by J.K. Rowling , but by an author named Jack Thorne . However , it ’s ground on an original story craft by Rowling , John Tiffany , and Thorne .
The Cursed Childfollows the second generationofHarry Potter;namely , Harry ’s Logos Albus Severus , and his best friend Scorpius Malfoy , as they take a journeying through time . The four - act output received rave reviews from critics , and it was a with child plus to theHarry Potteruniverse . There is now some consideration that the continuation of Harry ’s story could be made into a movie .
In fact , Christopher Columbus has expressly stated that he ’d be concerned in create aHarry Potter and the Cursed Childadaptation and many devotee have extract Leslie Townes Hope to see the original hurl return as older version of their iconic character reference . InThe Cursed Child , Harry converses with the portrayal of Albus Dumbledore . However , as Michael Gambon has since passed away , the role would ask to be recast .
Harry Potter is being make over as a television show for HBO and every detail about the next adaptation feature the Boy Wizard can be found here .
While a moving picture adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Cursed Childis far from confirmed , it is all but guaranteed another actor will be step into the function of Dumbledore before long . AHarry Potterseries is on the mode , which will ingeminate all of the novels , including many things that theHarry Pottermovies had to leave out . While Richard Harris and Michael Gambon made for a intimidating job to be replaced , theHarry Potterseries needs its own Dumbledore .
Dumbledore Was Far From The Only Harry Potter Actor Change
Voldemort Was The Most Recast Character In The Harry Potter Movies
The Dumbledore histrion alteration is n’t the only recasting , as there have been severalcasting changes inHarry Potter . Other illustrious recastings include Tom Riddle , with Christian Coulson inHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secretsbeing replaced by Frank Dillane inHarry Potter and the Half - Blood Princedue to years business concern . Griphook , initially play by Verne Troyer ( with Warwick Davis voicing the character ) inHarry Potter and the Sorcerer ’s Stone , see Davis assuming the full portrayal byHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows .
Helena Ravenclaw transition from Nina Young inHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixto Kelly Macdonald inDeathly sanctify Part 2 . The Fat Lady guarding Gryffindor Tower was another switch , moving from Elizabeth Spriggs in the first film to Dawn French by the third . Even the overarching antagonist of the series , Voldemort , had a major recasting , Richard Bremmer and Ian Hart were replaced by Ralph Fiennes . The intellect for these change were multifaceted : geezerhood constraints , programming conflicts , or originative decisions .
In the case of Voldemort , Bremmer has speculated that producer desire a bigger star in the office . These fault , while sometimes jar for die - surd fan , underscore the challenges of adapting a long - spanning , beloved book serial publication into a film saga , but Warner Bros. impressively pulled offHarry Potterdespite the hurl changes .
Which Dumbledore Actor Was Most Accurate To The Books?
Dumbledore’s Humor Is Not Shown In The Movies
Despite playing the same fibre , Michael Gambon and Richard Harris each found unlike ways to approach the character of Dumbledore while still staying true to chemical element from the novel . In the books , Dumbledore was a tumid - than - life reference , with Harry and the other scholar being in awe of him inHarry Potter and the Philosopher ’s Stone . Harris like a shot brought this element to the character only through his fabled status . He was occupy with dignity and commanded the screen , always making Dumbledore the most important part of any vista .
Gambon , on the other hand , seemed to need to make the grapheme more grounded and was concerned in play up Dumbledore ’s flaw . His Dumbledore was not as tender and receive as Harris ' adaptation and the more that was revealed about Dumbledore ’s mission to fight Voldemort , the more it became clear that Gambon was playing him as a burdened man who was nevertheless going to do what was necessary . In the remainder , Gambon had more clip with the character and his version of Dumbledore feel close to the grand yet complex character reference of the novels .
While both of these versions drew specific elements from the character in the novel , neither translation captured the strangeness and humor of Dumbledore . From the first script , Dumbledore is a quirky character and has a reasonably aloof demeanor . It make water him and his valiance all the more interesting given how goofy he can be . Though neither Harris nor Gambon are particularly funny in their roles as Dumbledore , it is possibletheHarry Potterseries could give a newfangled version of Dumbledorewith these qualities .
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned son who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry , where he learns the truth about himself , his mob , and the tremendous evil that haunts the wizard world . Adapted from the novels , Harry Potter is an eight - episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends , Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley , as they pilot the tricky world of growing up , schooling spirit , and magic . start from year one and moving to their 7th twelvemonth , the moving-picture show chronicle the students ' time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry . With the return of the dark wizard , Voldemort , the students and prof at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever . Harry Potter has dilate beyond the Earth of its motion-picture show and novel with several video games , a twirl - off celluloid series titled Fantastic Beasts , and even attractions at Universal Studios .
