Harry Potter: Sir Ian McKellen reveals why he turned down Dumbledore role - BBC News

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

(Your final exams Harry)

Hope someone makes a deepfake if hin as dumbledore...would still want to see it.

I think Sir Ian would have made a better Dumbledore than Michael Gambon.

The Harry Potter series were perfect. Each character's narrative and the overall build up played a part. Some people are in the mood for a full reboot, why ? I've already finished it

He would have been a great Dumbledore

❤ Sometimes I wished Sir Ian would have been Dumbledore. But then there would have been a world where he is Gandalf and Dumbledore....and that would have been strange and unfair. So like he said. He couldn't take that part from another actor. He is so precious ❤ We love Ian McKellen!!
Edit: Btw, just for the eye...the first Dumbledore was perfect. But I don't know if he would have been able to do the movies with all the scenes where Dumbledore shows such strength.
And well ...the second Dumbledore was brilliant too. But more with inactive scenes.🫣🙈 There were some that would just p!ss me off as the huge potterhead that I am😂🙈 Still, brilliant last scenes at that lake and everything. Brilliantly done 👍

Gambon spolied it. Harris was just amazing. Calm, composed, exactly how it was described in the books. When Gambon took over it's as if he was high on something. Screamed more than anyone else. Grabbed everyone by the collar. Definitely not calm by any stretch of the imagination. In fact he looked like doing damage more than anyone else. I feel sad it was Harris opinion that made Ian to opt out. Ian would have been the right person to carry on but hey the middle earth needed him more

Two wizards fighting it out to see which one was better? Now where have I seen this scene before?
To be blunt, Dumbledore was obviously at least partly inspired by Gandalf....so in a way, Harris was playing a role already made famous by the character played by McKellen. But McKellen's Gandalf is a wonderful portrayal, full of nuance and every emotion you could mention.
Harris was often a great actor (Bull Mc Cabe) but as often tended to overact. Maybe he simply thought the definition of 'passion' is apoplectic rage?

Harris was a hateful person who had no respect for Ian so why should he show him any respect?

I always thought Dumbledore was supposed to have been played by Ian and the flying teacher by Judi Dench

I adore Ian mckellen but I believe Harris was on a different level of acting prowess.

Gandalf 🧙🏻‍♂️

Just think if he took the Dumbledore he'd be in all the films but respect to Harris and Gambon for following Harris

OMG this whole time I literally thought they were the same person, I’ve only seen small parts of LOTR but I remember being like “oh that’s Dumbledore” lol

Oh wait he was not Dumbledore?

Richard Harris was a crusty fellow who had issues. I'm surprised anyone took his comments to heart.

''People come up to me and say 'My son's seen all the Harry Potter movies' because they think I'm Michael Gambon. When Richard Harris was ill, I was asked if I'd consider being in the movies [as his replacement] and I said, 'Absolutely.' But I never heard anything else about it. Before Richard Harris died he took time out to tell the world that he thought certain actors were rubbish -- and my name was on this rather short list. With Kenneth Branagh's. I was in good company.'' This is what he originally said and after Richard Harris' death he changed it into what he is saying in this video. Plus he played a game with Helen Mirren in Buzzfeed in which he made 3 statements and Helen had to guess which one is a lie and guess what, one of the statements was that he turned down the role of Dumbledore which Helen picked as the one that's a lie and his reply was ''correct.''

To be fair, Dumbledore is the real wizard. In all the movies, Gandalf never does any real magic

Let me just say Who Cares?

Ian as Dumbledore and Christopher Lee as Voldemort, now that would have been crazy.

Casting Gambon as dumbledore was one of the worst casting choices ever. Dumbledore was supposed to be soft spoken, calm and gentle yet Gambon brought everything the opposite of that to the table.

Now they're making the HP remake it would be awesome if he DID play Dumbledore now ❤

Why do I imagine him interacting with students as Magneto and not at Gandalf? 😂😂

I've forgot what dumbledoor looks like now I remember the one from the philophers3redrd stone

I hope Ian Mckellen will becomes the war doctor to honor John hurt

"I played the real wizard." Eat s..t, Richard Harris! 🤣

Interesting~ Either out of spite he didn't take the part or respected Richard Harris' feeling that Ian McKellen wouldn't make a good Dumbledore because of his acting?

Interesting that Richard Harris considered Derek Jacobi passionless, when he gave absolute marvelous and mesmerising performance in the TV series I, Claudius.

Ian mckellen wouldve been great as dumbledore

Gandalf(from Hobbit) and Dumbledore were dubbed by one person in my country. So, I can see some parallels between these characters.

McKellen, Jacobi, and Branagh are all brilliant actors, who are clearly passionate about their work in my opinion.

The truth is, that Dumbledore role was just too close to Gandalf. Seeing McKellen in both would be ridiculous.

I'm glad he didn't take it. It would've been weird watching those two franchises if they had the same "wise old wizard" IMO.

Then again I don't think Michael Gambon was the right choice either 😅

Sir Ian McKellen is such an underrated actor and a brilliant man. Who is this Michael Gambon anyway

good choice
I would really have hated if all major wizards looked like Ian McKellen
let's have a LITTLE variety

I wonder what harris would have thought knowing his character would end up actually being gay if he would have lived until now.

"You're a hobbit, Harry"

Your description is very misleading and unfair to Richard Harris. He did not rate Ian much as an actor, but never expressed any problem with McKellen's sexuality

Ian would have been perfect as Dumbledore - if he hadn't played Gandalf in the LotR franchise before. however, his Gandalf is legendary and we wouldn't wanna have it any other way

Definitely would have been better

He was perfect as Gandalf, and would have been perfect as Dumbledore too

Sir Ian wouldve made an excellent Dumbledore

It is true to what he said that Gandalf is a real wizard and Dumbledore is not. Tolkien explored extensively the world of wizards, and you can see it in his writings. Rowling focused more on magic, magic creatures, and learning. Dumbledore lacks the depth of the character and experience compared to Gandalf.

If Dumbledore was played by Ian McKellen it would have been basically the same character, I don't think it was a good idea to begin with.

Whats up with the description? He didn’t mention that, and i dont think ian mckellens that homophobic.

Tbh honest when I was a kid reading the books, I always pictured Ian as Dumbledore. His voice and mannerism are spot on for book Dumbledore.

Cinematically Ian McKellen's Gandalf will stand the test of time while Dumbledore will just be remembered for the Gambon "asked calmly" memes.

Imagine having been Gandalf , Magneto and Dumbledore in one life 😲

So we could made Dumbledore the Grey and White jokes for real