--- description: Ian McKellen has revealed why he never took on the role of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies title: This Is Why Ian McKellen Turned Down Playing Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" Series image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70519fc02b44fdc2/6988c119196cf4726103f82c/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is Why Ian McKellen Turned Down Playing Dumbledore in the _Harry Potter_ Series by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 4, 2017 1:27 PM CUT  Harriet Walter, Sir Ian McKellen and David Tennant perform on stage as part of a special production of Shakespeare Live! from the RSC on April 23, 2016 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Harriet Walter, Sir Ian McKellen and David Tennant perform on stage as part of a special production of Shakespeare Live! from the RSC on April 23, 2016 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.Tristan Fewings—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 4, 2017 1:27 PM CUT [Sir Ian McKellen](http://time.com/4650389/ian-mckellen-gandalf-lord-of-the-rings-memories/ "undefined") has revealed why he never took on the role of Albus Dumbledore in the _Harry Potter_ movies. The 77-year-old English actor — known for playing Gandalf, another famous and bearded wizard from _Lord of the Rings_ — said he was contacted by producers from _Harry Potter_ to [play Dumbledore](http://time.com/4449413/harry-potter-cursed-child-fans-favorite-lines/ "undefined"), but turned down the part. His reason: Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the franchise before his death in 2002. McKellen said Harris once called him a “technically brilliant, but passionless” actor — something he remembered when he was considering the role. “I couldn’t take over the part from an actor who I’d known didn’t approve of me,” McKellen said in an interview with [BBC’s HARDTalk](http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08l9b0d/hardtalk-sir-ian-mckellen-actor "undefined") show. Although he declined the role, McKellen admitted that he sometimes gets confused for Michael Gambon, the actor who wound up playing Dumbledore after Harris died. “Sometimes, when I see the posters of Mike Gambon, the actor who gloriously plays Dumbledore, I think sometimes it is me,” he joked. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4724447/ian-mckellen-dumbledore-harry-potter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4724447/ian-mckellen-dumbledore-harry-potter/"},"headline":"This Is Why Ian McKellen Turned Down Playing Dumbledore in the Harry Potter Series","datePublished":"2017-04-04T13:27:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:11:19.303Z","description":"It has to do with Richard Harris","url":"https://time.com/4724447/ian-mckellen-dumbledore-harry-potter/","keywords":["movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70519fc02b44fdc2/6988c119196cf4726103f82c/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70519fc02b44fdc2/6988c119196cf4726103f82c/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Prince Of Wales & Duchess Of Cornwall Mark 400th Anniversary Of Shakespeare's Death","caption":"The Prince Of Wales & Duchess Of Cornwall Mark 400th Anniversary Of Shakespeare's Death","creditText":"Tristan Fewings—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4724447/ian-mckellen-dumbledore-harry-potter/","name":"This Is Why Ian McKellen Turned Down Playing Dumbledore in the Harry Potter Series"}}]}] ```