Actor John Lithgow is on a roll playing the fearsome Cardinal Tremblay in The Conclave, appearing in the successful Giant in the West End of London as children’s writer Roald Dahl at his most antisemitic; and having accepted the role of Dumbledore in HBO’s forthcoming ten-season Harry Potter series. The hate mail he has received since accepting anything under the J.K. Rowling banner has bemused him though not put him off.
Born 19 October 1945 in New York, the son of an actress and a theatrical producer, he became an actor after Harvard and has had an award strewn career on stage and screen. He has a Libra Sun square a disciplined, surprisingly hard-edged Mars Saturn in Cancer with Venus, Neptune, Jupiter also in Libra. His Jupiter is in an adventurous trine to Uranus and sextile Pluto giving him confidence and influence. Mercury in Scorpio square Pluto will give him the capacity to be sharp and penetrating when needed.
Roald Dahl, 13 September 1916, was a Sun Virgo with Mars in vengeful Scorpio opposition Jupiter square Venus Neptune in Leo; with his Mars trine Pluto – talented with words but a bitter, angry man.
Director Nicholas Hytner said he knew Lithgow had to play Dahl because “even though he is the sweetest man, he does have the most extraordinary talent for playing monstrous characters”. He is known for a number of memorable villain roles, including the voice of the ruthless Lord Farquaad in animated movie Shrek, disgraced Fox News head Roger Ailes in Bombshell, and as a child psychologist who himself suffers a mental collapse in Raising Cain.
Of Dahl, Lithgow said “he was a very complicated man damaged by terrible tragedies. He was a charmer and a wit, but he had a vile temper and he could be horrible to people. And he had a deeply emotional side. He endured awful grief when one of his children was badly injured and another passed away. What fascinated him about Dahl was the “origins of that hatred… I think so much of that comes from injury, from damage.”
Both Lithgow and Dahl share Saturn in Cancer which can give expression to emotional pain. Lithgow’s North Node in Cancer was conjunct Dahl’s Pluto and Lithgow’s Mercury was conjunct Dahl’s Mars in Scorpio which again suggests enough connection to Dahl’s inner conflict and hatred to be able to make sense of an insightful stage portrayal.
J.K. Rowling, 31 July 1965 9.10 pm Bristol, England, Lithgow will be drawn to since his Pluto is conjunct her Sun and his Libra planets click with her 8th house Mars. A not always easy association but he will understand her motivations.
She looks relieved after the Supreme Court ruling on two sexes with only a few tremors more this year as tr Saturn opposes her Moon for a final time in November and December.
She may have a few outspoken moments with tr Uranus square her Mercury as well, picking up from this July onwards. But with her Solar Arc Mars having finished wading across the aggravated squares to her Uranus Pluto which made the recent few years fraught – and only one more square to her Saturn in six months which may cause some setbacks or irritations, thereafter she looks as if she will settle for a quiet life.
Her Progressed Moon is aiming for her Midheaven within months which will require a focus on career matters for a while ahead. But at the same time Jupiter through her 5th will want time to enjoy and have fun; and tr Saturn through her lower profile First Quadrant hints that a less pressured schedule ahead will suit her.
The post John Lithgow – a high with Dahl and J.K. Rowling first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
