“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is newest J.K. Rowling spin-off of the Harry Potter series, and premieres in theaters today (November 18)! The storyline is based on a textbook Potter used during his studies at Hogwarts, and the movie brings the textbook to life. One of the lead stars, Eddie Redmayne, plays the character of Newt Scamander who has been a Harry Potter fan his entire life. I would say that playing a lead role in a film based off of Rowling’s pieces would be a true honor after being a long-time fan. Even more special, Redmayne was able to “spend an hour with J.K. Rowling to talk about his character,” which is a dream of millions around the world.

In the movie, one of the main motifs is human interaction with the magical world. More specifically, the “fantastic beasts” in Rowling’s imagination. Redmayne, a perfectionist, even “stud[ied] how humans interact with creatures” at a zoo in Kent, England. One animal that help him tremendously the study of rhinoceros’ interaction with the zookeepers on sight. For instance, the zookeeper would “rubbing [it]…on the inner knee” to calm the animal down. These type of idiosyncrasies are similar to the actions Redmayne adopted while on set. Additionally, Redmayne even requested for the makeup crew to put fake scars on him because he wanted his character to seem as realistic as possible. He was so invested in his role that he would even “give each scar a little history” to further develop the character.

Note:

All quotes were derived from Redmayne’s interview with Pottermore.com.

(https://www.pottermore.com/news/fantastic-beasts-interview-series-eddie-redmayne)