Jared Harris doesn’t want to follow in his late father Richard Harris’s footsteps by playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise.

Richard Harris originated the role of the Hogwarts headmaster on screen, playing the professor in the first two films before he died in 2002 aged 72. The late Michael Gambon took over the role for the remaining six movies.

Now that a reboot series is in the works, his son Jared was asked by The Independent if he’d be interested in playing his father’s well-known character and he simply replied, “No, thank you.”

The Mad Men actor, 63, also questioned why HBO bosses would make a reboot when the original films were so well received.

“Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone,” he stated.

However, the Chernobyl star conceded that the films left out “a lot of storytelling” from J.K. Rowling’s novels and the TV series would be able to address those due to the expanded runtime. Each season of the TV show will cover one of Rowling’s books.

Harris played Dumbledore in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and reprised the character for 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which marked his final film role.

While his son isn’t interested in playing Dumbledore, Gary Oldman recently suggested himself for the part, even though he played Sirius Black in the original franchise.

“I would bet my money that they will get a whole new cast of people,” he told IndieWire earlier this month. “Maybe in a few years, I could do Dumbledore.”

No cast members have been announced for the show yet. The team are currently searching for the new Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger for the series, which is expected to debut in 2026.

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