Jared Harris has ruled out the possibility of playing the role his late father originated in the Harry Potter series in the future.
The Bafta winner is the son of Richard Harris, who played Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, until his death in 2002.
With the Harry Potter stories about to be re-explored in a new TV series, Jared was asked by The Independent whether he’d be up for following in his dad’s footsteps and portraying Dumbledore.
“No, thank you,” he responded simply.
In fact, Jared isn’t quite sure why the TV show is happening at all, admitting: “I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.”
However, he did concede that there is a “lot of storytelling” in the Harry Potter books that a TV show with a longer running time than the movies can dive into more deeply.
In his lifetime, Richard freely admitted that accepting the role of Dumbledore wasn’t a decision that came easily to him.
He shared: “It took me months to say yes to it. I wasn’t necessarily very keen on doing it.”
“My granddaughter called me and she said, ‘Papa, if you don’t play Dumbledore, I will never speak to you again’,” he revealed. “And I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it’. She [was] wrapped up in it, and I loved the book, I loved the script, it was beautifully written with beautiful dialogue in it.”
He also told the Toronto Star in 2001: “You see, I don’t just want to be remembered for being in those bloody films, and I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen to me.”
The Irish actor’s additional credits included Gladiator, Unforgiven, The Count Of Monte Cristo and Oscar-nominated performances in This Sporting Life and The Field.
Following his death, Sir Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore for the final six Harry Potter films.