Jared Harris doesn't want to play Dumbledore in Harry Potter

Richard Harris played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, but his son, Jared Harris, isn’t interested in taking on the role.

Richard Harris played Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies until his death forced the studio to recast the role with Michael Gambon. With the upcoming Harry Potter TV series starting the casting process, some fans have thought that Harris’ son, Jared Harris, would make for a good Dumbledore.

During an interview on the The Independent series Go to Bat, Jared Harris was asked if he’d be down to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter TV series. His response should shut down any more fan casting. “No, thank you,” he said. “Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.” Although Harris doesn’t seem keen on the idea of a TV series, he did acknowledge that “a lot of storytelling” was left out of the movie franchise.

While Harris may not be an option to play Dumbledore, Gary Oldman (who played Sirius Black in the movie franchise) recently teased that he will soon be old enough to play the Hogwarts headmaster in the TV series.

As I mentioned above, the casting process for the Harry Potter TV series has begun. An open call was put out for children who are residents of the U.K. and Ireland and will be between the ages of 9 and 11 in April 2025 to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. “We are committed to inclusive, diverse casting,” the notice reads. “For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis protected by law unless otherwise specifically indicated.“

It was revealed earlier this summer that Succession‘s Francesca Gardiner had been tapped to serve as writer and showrunner, while Mark Mylod signed on to executive produce and direct multiple episodes. The project was originally developed for Max but made the leap to HBO (along with a variety of other Max shows) in June.

Each season of the Harry Potter TV series is said to cover one of J.K. Rowling’s novels, for a total of seven seasons. While the movies were able to fit quite a lot in, there were plenty of moments cut from the novels that the TV series will finally be able to bring to life. Last year, the studio released a statement saying, “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.“