The casting of Dumbledore

[Miss Wings]

SO I've been thinking, I know it's a miracle isn't it?

Anyway I think that even if Richard Harris hadn't died they should have recast Dumbledore by the time all the books had been released because I think of Richard as the kind Grandfatherly Dumbledore and Michael Gambon as the manipulative version that we eventually came to know. That way it makes it so much easier when it comes to Fan Fiction and understanding Dumbledore as a character altogether.

What are your thoughts on this?

[RandomPasserby]

I have to admit, I do find it harder to dislike Harris' Dumbledore.

That's at least partly because I like the first two movies more than the rest of them but I think it's hard to speak hypothetically when we don't know how Harris would have played the other five movies.

Although my personal image of Dumbledore remains closer to Harris than Gambon - and is actually very very close to the illustration on the back of PS

[physicssquid]

Even now, I can't decide which actor's Dumbledore, I actually prefer. Gambon did make him seem like a sprightly old man full of energy, unlike Harris, who played up Dumbledore's age, making him seem like a tired old man. Neither made him seem like the slightly dotty old man JK wrote about, and they seemed to play down his liking for his sweets.

Both actors had good points and bad points, but because Harris died, we cannot know what he would have done during the other films, so we cannot delve too deeply into his portrayal of the character with only his appearances in the first two films to go on.

I still wonder how others, like Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Peter O'Toole or Pete Postlethwaite, might have played him.

[Kitty279]

As I avoid the movies, I can't really say much, but I admit that I believe Sir Ian would have done a marvelous job. Though in the end, I prefer he didn't play that role, it's too close to Gandalf - who was still the better wizard anyway for me