When Jude Law signed on to play Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, he knew he had his work cut out for him. And when it came to perfecting his performance as one of the most iconic literary characters in recent memory, he made sure to get as much information as he could straight from the source. In fact, he got so much intel from J.K. Rowling, he ended up learning many of Albus Dumbledore’s secrets.
Jude Law isn’t just a part of the Harry Potter franchise -- he’s a fan, too. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jude Law spoke about how important the Harry Potter series is in his own life:
I read my children Harry Potter, took them to see the films, and I loved Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I don't remember at what point, but somebody suddenly said, 'Oh you know they're going to want a Dumbledore.' I went through an audition process and it was a process I hadn't done in a while, and it was fun to do because you also felt like you wanted to make sure you were married to this part. You didn't want to get it and buckle, because there's a great responsibility that comes with playing Albus Dumbledore.
Jude Law definitely took his performance as a young version of Hogwarts’ most beloved headmaster seriously. The actor leaned on Harry Potter’s author, J.K. Rowling, to get as much insight as possible:
I think one of the beautiful moments in preparation was working with J.K. Rowling. I spent an afternoon when she gave me the entire history of this great character. I remember she went in and she was having tea. She had these incredible heels on. She said 'OK, if you don't mind I'm going to stand up.' And she stood up for nearly three hours and just walked up and down, talked, talked -- and it just came out, it's just living in her. And I'm sitting there scribbling down notes and getting all of this incredible insight into this character, which I had a little opportunity to use in this current one [Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald] and next year I go ahead and we do another chapter [in Fantastic Beasts 3]. There's more to come with that.
Okay, so it sounds like Jude Law maybe knows some secrets about Dumbledore. It’s no surprise that J.K. Rowling still has some stories up her sleeve for the wizard. And it sounds like Jude Law is on board to help:
There's something wonderful about embodying someone with magical power. I'm trying to understand what that might be like. But there's also something painful about Albus, something sad. [He's] just a beautiful literary character that was a privilege to bring to life.
Jude Law portrayed Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. And he’s due to reprise his role in Fantastic Beasts 3, which is expected to focus more on Dumbledore and his time at Hogwarts. After some delays, Fantastic Beasts 3 should be filming soon, with J.K. Rowling getting back-up on the screenplay front this time. There are certainly a lot of Dumbledore family secrets to explore after the second movie, and fans are cautiously optimistic for the promised answers ahead. Fantastic Beasts 3 is currently scheduled for release in November 2021.
