Jude Law opens up about Dumbledore’s sexuality in Fantastic Beasts 2

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

This November we will see Jude Law playing a young Albus Dumbledore in FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD, and based on the first trailer, he looks perfect as the dashing wizard in his pre-Headmaster years. However, the movie has already received some backlash for the portrayal of the character, with director David Yates saying the movie would “not explicitly” address the character’s homosexuality some months ago. Now Law has addressed the matter saying there’s a lot to discover about Dumbledore across the several movies they have planned, and that we're just "getting to know him," this time around. 

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Law spoke about the movie in an interview with Entertainment Weekly where they talked about everything from his mentoring of Newt (Eddie Redmayne) to what kind of wand he has (his character does not have the Elder Wand in this movie). But they eventually get to the topic of Yates’ quote, with Law saying that series creator and FB screenwriter J.K. Rowling confirmed to him that Dumbledore is gay but said the exploration and evolution of the character will take place over the rest of the five planned films.

Jo Rowling revealed some years back that Dumbledore was gay. That was a question I actually asked Jo and she said, yes, he’s gay. But as with humans, your sexuality doesn’t necessarily define you; he’s multifaceted. I suppose the question is: How is Dumbledore’s sexuality depicted in this film? What you got to remember this is only the second Fantastic Beasts film in a series and what’s brilliant about Jo’s writing is how she reveals her characters, peels them to the heart over time. You’re just getting to know Albus in this film, and there’s obviously a lot more to come. We learn a little about his past in the beginning of this film, and characters and their relationships will unfold naturally which I’m excited to reveal. But we’re not going to reveal everything all at once.

In Harry Potter lore it’s well-known that Dumbledore has a relationship with Gellert Grindelwald, who is played by Johnny Depp. Law said the two did not work together in this movie, which Law says works best for the film as they are quite estranged at this point, adding a new layer of conflict and emotion.

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I don’t actually have any scenes with Johnny. As I said before, this is only Part 2 of a longer story. I’ve always admired him from afar, but we don’t know each other, and I’ve not yet met him on this. In many ways that suits the relationship as it’s been many years since they’ve seen each other. So there’s complexity in that that’s fun to mine. Again, the past will reveal itself.

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD arrives November 16.