Sir Ian McKellen reveals he turned down chance to play Dumbledore after death of Richard Harris... because he knew actor 'didn't approve' of him

Published: 19:27 BST, 4 April 2017 | Updated: 20:36 BST, 4 April 2017

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He famously played Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings franchise.

But Sir Ian McKellen has revealed that he once turned down the chance to play another hugely popular character - Albus Dumbledore.

The veteran actor, 77, said he was contacted about the part after the death of Richard Harris, who played the Hogwarts' headmaster in the first two Harry Potter movies.

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'I couldn't take over the part': Sir Ian McKellen has revealed that he once turned down the chance to play Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films

But he said he couldn't take over the role, because he knew Harris 'didn't approve' of him.

Sir Ian told BBC's HARDtalk: 'When they called me up and said would I be interested in being in the films, they didn’t say in what part.

'I worked out what they were thinking, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t take over the part from an actor who I’d known didn’t approve of me.'

Host Stephen Sackur had asked the X-Men star about Harris's criticism of his acting abilities.

Original Dumbledore: Richard Harris, who played the Hogwarts' headmaster in the first two Harry Potter movies, died in 2002

The Irish actor had suggested that Sir Ian, along with Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Brannagh, were 'technically brilliant, but passionless'.

Speaking on the programme, Sir Ian dismissed the criticism as 'nonsense'.

Harris died in 2002 at the age of 72 following a battle with cancer. Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore after his death.

Legendary: Sir Ian, who plays Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings franchise, said he couldn't take the role knowing that Harris 'didn't approve' of him

Popular character: Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore after Harris's death

Sir Ian admitted that even he sometimes gets confused between himself and Gambon, saying: 'When I see the posters of Mike Gambon, who gloriously played Dumbledore, I think sometimes it's me.'

He added: 'We get asked for each other's autographs.'

Sir Ian played Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, later reprising the role in the Hobbit films.

Most recently, he stars as Cogsworth in the new Beauty And The Beast movie.