Fans of The Wizarding World have been waiting a while to get the first confirmation on film that one of the most revered characters in the lore is, in fact, gay. For years now, author J.K. Rowling has said that Albus Dumbledore is a gay man, but there hasn’t been any sort of confirmation in official lore to support her assertion. And with the famous wizard playing a seemingly large role in the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” many fans were hoping that they’d finally see his sexuality explored. Alas, as we’ve heard before, it doesn’t appear that will happen…yet.
Young Dumbledore actor Jude Law was interviewed recently by EW, and he was asked that exact question. His answer is clear – just have patience. ‘Grindelwald’ is just part two of a much larger story:
“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.”
This confirmation comes after director David Yates had a similar statement in January when asked about Dumbledore. While Law and Yates have a point that the character’s sexuality doesn’t define him, many fans were assuming it would be addressed as the characters of Dumbledore and Grindelwald were said to be in a romantic relationship, and both characters feature heavily in the upcoming film.
Regarding the idea it makes sense for the relationship to be explored in his new film, Law says the answer to that is simple – *Spoilers* Dumbledore doesn’t have any scenes with Grindelwald, played by 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.”
One can’t help but wonder if this yet another example of Rowling and the people behind the films continuing to push talk of Dumbledore’s sexuality to the future. A sort of kicking the can down the road scenario. Maybe in two year’s time, we’ll hear the actors saying, “well, this is only Part 3, you know?”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” hits theaters November 16.