Wait, It’s A Lie That Ian McKellen Turned Down Playing Harry Potter’s Dumbledore?

Helen Mirren is a very good liar! But the Dumbledore lie confuses me, because I thought there was a whole thing about that. Harry Potter‘s original Dumbledore actor, Richard Harris, had made some comments about various actors, including Ian McKellen, saying McKellen was “technically brilliant but passionless.” That was brought up in an interview with BBC’s HARDtalk a few years back, and it was used as part of McKellen’s explanation for turning down the role after Harris died. As McKellen said, at the time:

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