Actor Aud Mason-Hyde, who doesn't identify as male or female, feels "vaguely hurtful" after learning that former co-star John Lithgow accepted the role of Albus Dumbledore in HBO's upcoming "Harry Potter" series.
The concern comes amid continued scrutiny of author J.K. Rowling's views on transgender issues.
Mason-Hyde, who recently worked with Lithgow on the 2025 film "Jimpa" and described him as a mentor, emphasized that their reaction was not about the personal experience.
"He is such an incredibly talented actor, but also such a beautiful human to make work with, and that was my experience with John," Mason-Hyde said in an interview with OUT. "I never felt invalidated or questioned or doubted in my identity or in my transness by him.
"I consistently felt that he was a very loving and a very guiding co-star."
Mason-Hyde described the casting as difficult.
"And so there's an element of this that feels vaguely hurtful. But also I think that he's making this decision after we had made the film and after we had premiered the film, can't take away from what we had and the time that we spent together and the beautiful work that he does in this movie and actually how incredibly authentically he played the role."
Lithgow was announced for the role last April.
The HBO series is being developed by writer and showrunner Francesca Gardiner, who is also an executive producer alongside Mark Mylod, set to direct multiple episodes.
The production is backed by HBO in association with Bront Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television.
Mason-Hyde said the announcement came at a challenging moment.
"It was definitely a difficult moment in time," they said. "I don't think it's worth speaking to John's reasoning by any means, but I do also think that it's a strange decision, for sure. And also I found it disconcerting, maybe, is the right word."
The series comes as Rowling continues to face backlash for her views on transgender issues. Mainly, she says it's unfair for women to play sports against men.
Lithgow has publicly addressed Rowling's views and said they did not stop him from accepting the role.
Speaking during an onstage discussion at the recent 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam, he described her stance as "strange" but said he does not intend to step away from the project.
"If you read through the 'Harry Potter' canon, you see absolutely no trace of transphobic sensibility," Lithgow said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "She has written this great meditation on kindness and empathy and acceptance, which is why it's so strange to me."
He acknowledged weighing the decision carefully.
"Dumbledore is a beautiful role," Lithgow said. "So it was a hard decision on the basis of that [issue], and it made me very uncomfortable and unhappy that people were actively insisting that I walk away from this job. But I chose not to do that," he added.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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