John Lithgow's Politics in Question as 'Giant' Debuts on Broadway

Legendary Emmy Award-winning actor John Lithgow is starring in a Broadway play about James and the Giant Peach author Roald Dahl, and according to The New York Post, the children's author was an anti-Semite. John has been entertaining folks on the stage, the small screen, as well as movie screens for decades in works such as 3rd Rock From the Sun, Terms of Endearment, and Dexter, just to name a few.

Giant premiered on March 23, 2026, per Playbill, and it features John as Roald Dahl. As the play gets underway, his fans are wondering about the two-time Oscar-nominated actor's politics.

John is nothing like his character in Giant. In fact, he is a liberal who has been very critical of Donald Trump. In addition to being an amazing actor, the Footloose star has also written several children's picture books, and he has also written two satirical books of poetry about Trump — Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse and Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown: Verses for a Despotic Age.

"Donald Trump has dragged me into the public arena," he told the NYS Writers' Institute. "He's the first politician who has truly enraged me, and appalled me, and scared me. ... I'm amazed there aren't more books of doggerel verse about Trump. Lucky for me."

John also slammed the wayward president after he took over the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and slapped his name on the living memorial created for the assassinated 35th president.

“Our administration has done some shocking, destructive things,” he said, per The Guardian. “But the one that grieves me most is taking over the Kennedy Center.” He also called Trump's presidency a "pure disaster — really disheartening."

The Harry Potter books are to be a new television series on HBO Max, and the author of the books, J.K. Rowling, received backlash after her anti-trans efforts.

"When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman," she wrote on her website, per the BBC. "You open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside."

John told The New York Times that he didn't agree with the author's anti-trans comments.

He also noted that the characters in her books were "clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry." John also said that he almost quit the series over the drama, but ultimately decided to stay in his role as headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the TV series.

The actor added that he was aware that the question about quitting over the backlash would come up in "every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life."

The new Harry Potter series is set to begin filming this summer, per Variety. The series is set to debut in 2027.