It’s a sad day for many as the news of Michael Gambon’s passing reverberates through every corner of the entertainment industry and beyond. The 82-year-old actor enjoyed a decorated career across many renowned stage productions, movies and TV shows, but he’s inarguably known best for playing the compassionately crooked-nose headmaster Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies.
Although Gambon saw the Harry Potter films to the end, he wasn’t there from the beginning. The Irish-English actor inherited the role from his predecessor Richard Harris, who passed away shortly after the second movie. It’s easy to recall Gambon’s portrayal of the long-bearded wizard with fondness now that the series is over, and we can hardly imagine it looking any other way, but let’s not forget there was once a time when Harris’ passing of the torch to Gambon didn’t sit quite well with fans.
A big reason was due to the two actor’s different portrayals, but also because Gambon was vocal about actively choosing not to read the Harry Potter books. The irony of it in the wake of J.K. Rowling’s fall from grace tickles us silly, but back then — back then it was sacrilege.
Michael Gambon’s reasons for not reading the Harry Potter books were twofold
Why read a book if the movie adaptation is going to change it? That was Michael Gambon’s reasoning at least for skipping on J.K. Rowling’s beloved wizarding novels. Additionally, he found more value in focusing his attention not on Rowling’s words but on screenwriter Steve Klove’s.
Gambon said as much during a 2009 interview with The Los Angeles Times (archived by Harry Potter fan site The Leaky Cauldron), in turn ruffling more than a couple of phoenix feathers.
“You’d get upset about all the scenes it’s missing from the book, wouldn’t you? No point in reading the books because you’re playing with [screenwriter] Steve Kloves’ words.”
It’s quite a controversial take when you think about it. Every aspect of the Harry Potter movies is steeped in lore derived from Rowling’s imagination. Where better to fully grasp the enormity of your character than within the pages penned by the creator herself? It’s possible Gambon supplemented the book’s absence with conversations with Rowling, which if you’re going to ignore the source material, is about a close second as you can get.
Now, 12 years on from the final Harry Potter movie, Rowling has soured her reputation with ardent attacks on the transgender community. What started out as a cheeky like on X (then known as Twitter) has morphed into a full-blown crusade to prove why transgender women are not women and why she, Rowling, will stop at nothing to prove that biological women deserve enhanced protection from those within the transgender community whose aim for equal rights she believes threatens the rights of biological women everywhere.
Something about Gambon’s choice to not read the Harry Potter books feels a bit poetic now, wouldn’t you say?
The actor brought a fieriness to the Hogwarts headmaster that differed significantly from Richard Harris’ methodic, composed, and softer disposition. “He’s got to be a bit scary,” Gambon said in his LA Times interview. “All headmasters should be a bit scary, shouldn’t they? A top wizard like him would be intimidating. And ultimately, he’s protecting Harry. Essentially, I play myself. A little Irish, a little scary. That’s what I’m like in real life.”
Scary or not, intimidating or otherwise, Michael Gambon will be sorely missed, as will several other Harry Potter alum who left us too soon. Like Dumbledore, Gambon blazed his own trail, and like a phoenix, it will live on forever.