Harris as Dumbledore

[Theresa]

Hey all - I was chatting with a co-worker while heating my lunch 
today in our break-room. He is a fellow HP fan but only reads TLC and 
doesn't participate in forums. Anyway, I mentioned that most of 
fandom seems to prefer Harris' portrayal of DD and he said he prefers 
Gambon. I told him I like both in different ways but Gambon hasn't 
read the books. To which he said "Neither did Richard Harris." Is 
that true? I thought he read them with his granddaughter, the one who 
said she would not speak to him if he turned down the role. Does 
anyone know if that is true? I wonder because when he does the scene 
where Quirrell comes to announce the troll and the scene where he 
gets the earwax jellybean seem so much like I pictured in the book. I 
liked how he seemed kind and gentle, slightly odd but there was 
something below the surface that told you not to mess with him. As 
for Gambon, I liked him in PoA when he was at Hagrid's hut and after 
H/Hr returned to the hospital wing. Frankly the only time I didn't 
like him was in the room after Harry's name was chosen in GoF. that 
was just something I don't see DD ever doing. Otherwise, I have 
personally like both men in their own way but I made myself think of 
Gambon in reference to my version of DD not Harris' portrayal. I 
decided to do that when Daniel Radcliffe said "he isn't playing 
Richard Harris playing DD. He is playing DD. He is made it his own." 
It helped a little but I will say that Harris seemed more 
grandfatherly and that is how I pictured DD.

Still I don't get why any actor would not want to read the original 
material to get a true feel for their character. It is like research. 
Many actors meet the person they are playing or if not possible they 
read about them. I would think they would do that. Ralph Fiennes had 
never gotten into the HP world until he was offered the part so he 
took the time to find out who Voldemort was and how people felt about 
him. I think it truly showed. Anyway, I just wondered if it was true 
that Harris didn't read the books either.

Theresa