Many fans have long speculated that the reason Ian McKellen turned down the role of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films was because of Dumbledore himself. The original actor who played the part, Richard Harris, allegedly critiqued McKellen’s acting ability. Following the death of Harris, McKellen’s name was being floated around after Chamber of Secrets. As all of you know, Michael Gambon instead took over the role. P.S. Gambon did a phenomenal job so this is taking nothing away from him.
Rumor has it that McKellen decided to turn down the role because of this “feud” with Harris, although the going explanation has been that he didn’t want to play another wizard after already doing so in the Lord of the Rings franchise. Turns out that rumor was 100% true. In a recent interview with BBC’s Hardtalk McKellen said,
“When they called me up and said ‘would I be interested in being in the Harry Potter films,’ they didn’t say in what part, I worked out what they were thinking, and I couldn’t,” he said. “I couldn’t take over the part from an actor I’d known didn’t approve of me.” However, he did joke that sometimes when he seems posters of Gambon in the role, he mistakes it for himself. (He has also previously said that many fans make the same mistake.)
McKellen is one of only a few actors who turned down the role for Dumbledore. Another one was his Lord of the Rings castmate, Christopher Lee.
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