New Depth to Dumbledore Revealed in “Crimes of Grindelwald” Featurette

Ever defined by his complexity, Albus Dumbledore’s impending return to the big screen in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is set to deliver new insights into the love, loss, and deception that punctuated his role in not one, but two wizarding wars.

Audiences will have the opportunity to explore new depths to Dumbledore’s character as Jude Law brings to life the “mysterious” youth that would inform the aged Dumbledore we know, or think we know, so well. Screenwriter and producer J.K. Rowling reflects on the bridge between who Dumbledore is and who he appears to be.

When I met Jude I basically told him everything about Dumbledore that I’ve ever known because, without that knowledge, Jude is playing someone who appears to be playing games with people’s lives, and that’s not who Dumbledore is.

Dumbledore’s “Dumbledoreishness,” as Rowling calls it, emerges from and within his relationship with Grindelwald, the shift from infatuation to betrayal, the subscription to a young love’s dangerous philosophies. Rowling outlines her iconic character’s entanglement with secrecy as a hallmark of his identity, but according to Law, Dumbledore is fueled by a desire to right his wrongs.

As we learn to make sense of this new, younger Dumbledore, Rowling offers us a tether to familiarity in the form of widespread ignorance to his wisdom, as he pleads with the wizarding community to avoid brutality toward Grindelwald’s supporters that only further strengthens their resolve.

No one’s listening. As often happens with Dumbledore, no one’s listening.

Mischievous, funny, and surprising, Law’s Dumbledore is expected to be very different from Harris’s or Gambon’s, but no less captivating, intriguing, or magical.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will make its American debut on November 15, enthralling scores of excited fans.