Dumbledore star’s son slams HBO’s “pointless” Harry Potter TV series

Jared Harris, son of the late Richard Harris who played Professor Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, thinks HBO’s upcoming reboot is unnecessary.

After years of back-and-forth development, the Harry Potter TV show has finally started pre-production, with a casting call posted for the series’ major characters.

Despite adding fresh blood to the wizarding world, there’s demand for a few familiar faces to step back into their roles from the movies.

Some of Harry Potter’s original actors have died since the movies were made, like Richard Harris, who played Professor Dumbledore.

So, viewers hoped his son, Jared (who’s starred in Chernobyl and The Terror), would want to fill his dad’s shoes. When The Independent asked if he was up for the task, he responded, “No, thank you.”

Warner Bros. Pictures

Harris added, “Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.”

The actor echoed a common sentiment online, with many people puzzled by the urge to adapt J.K. Rowling’s books into a new TV show when anyone can check out the existing eight movies whenever they please.

“A Harry Potter TV show is a terrible idea. You want a 1:1 adaptation of the books? You need to see subplots like ‘Hermione tries to free slaves but they LOVE being slaves’ and ‘Harry and Ron do so much homework?'” one fan posted on X/Twitter.

Another fan explained their conflicting feelings about the series, writing, “Part of me is happy it’s gonna get fleshed out more, but it’s upsetting we don’t have enough new ideas these days that we constantly gotta go back to reboot things that genuinely don’t need a reboot.”

HBO’s Harry Potter series is expected to last at least 10 years as Warner Bros., the company behind the IP, is set on fully adapting each of Rowling’s seven books in a way the movies couldn’t due to their limited runtimes.

If Harris isn’t interested in reprising his father’s role, one Harry Potter star definitely wants to play Dumbledore: Gary Oldman has thrown his hat in the ring to play the most powerful wizard in the universe.

While you wait for the Harry Potter show, check out our guide to the most binge-worthy TV shows, the best shows to stream in September, and all the new true crime and documentaries streaming this month.