Michael Gambon apparently asked JK Rowling a specific question after the revelation of Albus Dumbledore's sexuality.
The 82-year-old, who took over the role of the iconic professor at Hogwarts after the original actor Richard Harris passed away in 2002, decided to ask the author a question after it was revealed that Dumbledore was actually gay.
"Is it because of the way I’m playing it?" he asked, as per an interview from 2009 with TODAY, after the pair had bumped into each other on the set of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
While Gambon acknowledged he was "cutting around" on set after learning about the wizard’s sexuality, he emphasized that in the end, "It doesn’t make any difference."
Rowling announced Dumbledore was gay during a question-and-answer session with fans back in 2007.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, when asked whether Dumbledore had ever found love, Rowling responded that she "always thought of Dumbledore as gay."
She went on to explain that she saw the relationship between Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald as a romantic one.
Rewatch the trailer for the very first Harry Potter movie:"Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was [an evil wizard]," Rowling told the audience.
She also added that she asked the Harry Potter filmmakers to delete a line in the Half-Blood Prince movie where Dumbledore reminisces about a girl he once knew: "I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter [saying] 'Dumbledore's gay!'"
The news resurfaced shortly after it was announced that the veteran actor had passed away yesterday (September 28).
In a statement issued on behalf of his wife, Lady Anne Gambon, and son Fergus Gambon, the family revealed the 82-year-old's cause of death.
"We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon," they wrote. "Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia."
In the wake of the news, Gambon's fellow co-stars from the series led the tributes to the well-loved veteran entertainer.
James Phelps - who played Fred Weasley in the franchise - took to X (formerly known as Twitter), to post a touching anecdote about the kindness of Gambon alongside the caption: "Very sorry to hear about the passing of Michael Gambon. He was, on and off the camera, a legend. Just a little memory of Michael."
In the screenshot of the memory, he recalled: "Whilst shooting HP6 I worked on the AD department for the whole shoot (apart from the days I was acting). And for that reason I spent many hours with Michael during the shoot. He was always very funny and very welcoming to share any knowledge he had.
Phelps continued: "One day we were shooting Dumbledore's final clock tower scene, obviously quite an intense scene. In between se ups, Michael asked what I was up to that weekend. As it happened my brother and I were reading Peter and the Wolf with the Manchester Halle orchestra. 'Do you have the script with you?' He asked."
Phelps then said that Gambon offered to help him rehearse so he could give him a few tips.
"So we spent what should have been his downtime going over my weekend gig. It is a memory I've always had as one of the highlights of my HP days," he concluded.
Jason Isaacs, who portrayed the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy on Harry Potter, also had some kind words to offer about the late actor.
"Magnificent Michael Gambon has died," he wrote on X. "I learned what acting could be from Michael in The Singing Detective - complex, vulnerable and utterly human. The greatest thrill of being in the Potter films was that he knew my name and shared his fearless, filthy sense of fun with me."
Ruper Grint, the series' Ronald Weasley, also took to Instagram to write about his devastation uponhearing the unfortunate news.
"So sad to hear about Michael," he wrote in a post alongside a still of the star as Dumbledore. "He brought so much warmth and mischief to every day on set. He captivated me as a kid and became a personal role model of mine for finding the fun and eccentricities in life. Sending all my love to his family, Rupert."
Our thoughts and prayers are with Gambon's loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
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