Jude Law used his role in 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' as an excuse to enjoy a 'Harry Potter' marathon.

Jude Law

Jude Law

The 45-year-old actor portrays the younger Albus Dumbledore in J.K. Rowling's latest wizarding adventure and though he'd been reassured he didn't need to follow the late Richard Harris and Michael Gambon - who portrayed the Hogwarts headmaster in the original movie series - in his take on the iconic character, he used "research" as a way to binge on all eight films.

Speaking to the latest issue of SFX magazine, he said: "I did [watch Gambon and Harris] but I was freed up immediately by Jo Rowling and David Yates who said, 'Come on, there are 80-odd years between them. You're not him yet.' There are little things I wanted to pick up on that Harris and Gambon did, but it was just an excuse to go back and get into the world.

"'What am I doing this weekend? I'm going to watch all of the Harry Potter films and pretend I'm taking notes.' "

While Jude admitted his movie alter ego is "complicated", he particularly enjoyed showing his "mischievous" side.

He said: "I think Dumbledore feels somewhat isolated and that in order to progress and do the right thing, he's going to have to face up to the demons he's carried and actions he's taken in the past. He is also in a situation where he relies on others to believe in his causes and act for him. So that leaves, in its wake, rather a lot of ... I suppose guilt, in a way. He's complicated. But you know, unmistakably, as is mentioned in all the books, he has this sparkly and mischievous quality, which is such a lovely thing to be able to sprinkle in."

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