Michael Gambon, Dumbledore In The Harry Potter Franchise, Has Sadly Passed Away

As a big fan of the HP books growing up, nobody was more pumped for the movies and for the character of Dumbledore. And they nailed the casting when they got Richard Harris, a prolific actor who many of you probably know as the old emperor in Gladiator that Joaquin Phoenix kills. Unfortunately, Harris passed away before the filming of the third movie, leaving a MASSIVE hole to fill. 

Something to understand is that Dumbledore was basically the grandpa of every kid around my age that was into this franchise (the other grandpa being Ian McKellen). So to recast him, especially after how well Richard Harris had played him, was an extremely hard ask. Not only because the performance was great across two established, blockbuster movies but also because it is harder for kids to understand and suspend disbelief for this kind of thing. 

Enter Michael Gambon. He took over the role and wisely didn't try to do an impression of Richard Harris' performance. Instead, he brought his own life to the role and made Dumbledore a more kinetic character. He made him more like an age-gap cool uncle instead of a wise grandpa. He also did a phenomenal job building up the emotional investment audiences needed so that the Dumbledores death in the series still hit audiences like cruise missile. This is all to say that taking over this role was an insanely difficult ask, but Gambon delivered. 

Outside of this, he also had a fantastic career in the arts. He was hugely influential in the theater scene and plenty of great roles on screen as well. I think I will always remember him for having one of my favorite voices in all of cinema. You'd probably be surprised how many of your favorite movies he was probably the narrator in. 

RIP to a childhood legend.