Another Actor Almost Played Albus Dumbledore After Richard Harris Passed Away

Richard Harris memorably played Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – before passing away suddenly in October of 2002.

Now, the director of the first two films, Chris Columbus, is speaking out about another actor who almost replaced Richard before they cast Michael Gambon in the role. Michael went on to play Dumbledore in the remaining movies.

Click inside to read who could have gotten the role and why they turned it down…

“It was obviously a crushing blow when Richard Harris passed away,” Chris told The Wrap. “I remember an interesting thing because [‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ director] Alfonso [Cuaron] and I met with Peter O’Toole about playing Dumbledore, and he was close except Richard was his best friend and he felt it was intrusive from an acting point of view so he decided not to do it.”