The Associated Press has a new interview with Michael Gambon, who plays Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.

The regal Hogwarts headmaster, Rowling said, was gay. When Gambon later saw Rowling on the set of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” he had one question: “Is it because of the way I’m playing it?”  While Gambon acknowledges he was “cutting around” on set upon learning the wizard’s sexuality, he states clearly: “It doesn’t make any difference.”

Long known as something of a trickster himself, he hypothesizes that Rowling merely blurted it out to surprise people, and says he identifies with the instinct “to cause trouble or make people think or kick people off their security blanket.”  That goes for his acting, too. Gambon revels in doing the “strange, odd and unexpected,” particularly on the stage where he’s known for altering a performance from night to night.