Actor John Lithgow says he considered quitting HBO Max’s upcoming Harry Potter series in the midst of backlash over author JK Rowling’s anti-trans activism.

In a profile of Lithgow published this week, the New York Times reveals that the Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe-winning actor was “stung” by criticism of his involvement in the series, but ultimately opted to stick with the project, insisting that Rowling’s stories are “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry.”

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Early last year, Lithgow confirmed that he’d been cast as ostensibly gay wizard Albus Dumbledore in the streamer’s new adaptation of Rowling’s children’s book series, a role the 80-year-old said would “define… the last chapter” of his life.

The HBO Max series has been controversial since it was announced in 2023, coming as it did amid Rowling’s increasingly strident opposition to transgender rights and protections.

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The author has been confirmed as an executive producer on the series, but Lithgow insisted that he has never met Rowling and that he disagrees with her views on trans issues.

Asked about Rowling’s views earlier this year during a live Q&A about his latest film, Jimpa, in which he plays the gay activist grandfather of a nonbinary teen, Lithgow said he takes “the subject and the issue extremely seriously.”

“I find it ironic and somewhat inexplicable that Rowling has expressed such views,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve read about them, and I’ve never met her. She’s not really involved in this production at all. The people who are re-adapting Harry Potter and turning it into an eight-year-long TV series are remarkable… These are people I really want to work with.”

“Of course, it upsets me when people are vehemently opposed to my having anything to do with this,” Lithgow continued. “But if you read through the Harry Potter canon, you see absolutely no trace of transphobic sensibility. She has written this great meditation on kindness and empathy and acceptance, which is why it’s so strange to me.”

While Lithgow has claimed that Rowling is “not really involved” in the HBO Max series, she will continue to profit from the franchise. Last year, Forbes estimated that the author could earn $20 million per year for her involvement with the new series, bringing her annual income from the Harry Potter brand and her other books to $100 million. The outlet estimated Rowling’s net worth to be around $1.2 billion – a significant portion of which she has pledged to fighting against the rights of transgender women.

Last year, a spokesperson for Rowling confirmed that the author has been personally bankrolling legal cases aimed at diminishing rights and protections for transgender women in the U.K. and Ireland through her JK Rowling Women’s Fund. Like many anti-trans advocates, Rowling has framed her opposition to trans rights as an effort to protect the rights of cisgender women.

The Times — which characterized Rowling’s anti-trans activism as “social media comments” that “have been seen by many as transphobic” — does not appear to have questioned Lithgow about the JK Rowling Women’s Fund.

The actor told the paper that he accepts that the subject of Rowling will come up in “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life.”

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