Jude Law Defends Decision to Not Make Young Dumbledore 'Explicitly' Gay in 'Fantastic Beasts 2'

In January, the film's director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly that Dumbledore, whom Rowling announced was gay in 2007, would "not explicitly" be gay in the film.

Photo: Warner Bros.

Jude Law — who is portraying a young Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — is responding to the controversy over the wizard’s sexuality in the Harry Potter spinoff.

In January, the film’s director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly that Dumbledore, whom author J.K. Rowling announced was gay in 2007, would not be “explicitly” gay in the film.

Law recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he had spoken with Rowling about Dumbledore’s sexuality, saying, “But as with humans, your sexuality doesn’t necessarily define you; he’s multifaceted.”

The actor continued, “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.”

Warner Bros.

He concluded, “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.”

This is not the only controversy surrounding the movie. In December, Rowling defended the decision to cast Johnny Depp as Grindelwald despite fans questioning why domestic violence allegations made against Depp by his ex-wife Amber Heard didn’t preclude him from the project. Through his lawyers, Depp vehemently denied the abuse allegations throughout the contentious divorce, calling the claims “salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation, and lies.”

“Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling stated.

Last month, Depp sued a British tabloid for running an article titled “How can J.K. Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be released Nov. 16, 2018.