In a new interview with EW, Jude Law discusses playing Young Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In what will come as quite a shock to book fans, Jude says Dumbeldore is not transfiguration teacher (at this time.) Perhaps J.K. Rowling forgot to mention his stint as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in all her past interviews about Dumbledore. Only time, and seeing the film in November, will tell.
So what’s Dumbledore like at this age and how different is he than how we know him?
As I mentioned before, there’s a sense of humor and mischief, a dash of anarchy, a sense of what’s right and what he believes in, and a sense of mystery. There’s also how he comes around to get people onto his way of thinking — which is rather indirectly. He also has a certain heaviness about him that I don’t want to reveal too much about — and that’s something he has to overcome, or hopes to overcome. He’s also got a great passion for sharing his knowledge, he’s a powerful and inclusive teacher.
So he teaches Transfiguration, right?
He doesn’t teach Transfiguration, actually, not at this stage.
Oh! Because in Potter lore, it was said he used to be a Transfiguration teacher before becoming headmaster…
At this stage in his career, he’s not. I’m not sure I’m allowed to say what he teaches… [Note: based on a previous photo we assume he teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts]
Jude Law also discusses Dumbledore’s sexuality in the interview:
There was some uproar earlier this year when director David Yates told EW the character not “explicitly gay” in this film. What’s your take on how apparent Dumbledore’s sexuality should be?
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.
Obviously, Dumbledore had a relationship with Grindelwald. What’s that relationship like at this point in time? And what was it like working with Johnny Depp?
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.
Read the full interview for more!
Filed Under: Fantastic Beasts Films, Jude Law, The Crimes of Grindelwald |