“Dumbledore, he’s kind of this nuclear weapon.

He only goes off very, very occasionally.”

“You know, Dumbledore, he’s kind of this nuclear weapon,” Lithgow explained.

John Lithgow attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California; Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

John Lithgow; Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore.Credit:Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Murray Close/Warner Bros

“He only goes off very, very occasionally.

And I don’t think it’s gonna be that hard a job.”

He played Winston Churchill in the historical drama, filming in England for eight months and rarely returning home.

John Lithgow at the The Vulture Spot at Sundance Film Festival at The Vulture Spot on January 24, 2025 in Park City, Utah

John Lithgow.Tommaso Boddi/Getty

Rowlingto prepare for the role.

“I seem to be behind everybody,” he said.

“I’m halfway through the second of these seven novels.”