David Yates sat down with Pottermore to discuss Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first movie in the upcoming trilogy that will bring the Wizarding World back to theaters next year.
With the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them released earlier this week, the Pottermore corespondent hit the set of the new movie to track down David Yates and talk to him about the making of the new film. According to him, after making four of the final eight Potter movies on the original franchise, he was nervous to see what Rowling would bring forth for Fantastic Beasts. But instead of more of the same, he was delighted to discover she was coming at it from a completely new angle. (He uses the words “fun” and “fresh” to describe the script.) He also says the change in time period, from the very-recent past to a period piece set 90 years ago, was a huge factor in finding new stories to tell in the Potterverse.
When asked about the characters, Yates gives a short description of each and what he finds great about them:
- Newt Scamander: “[he] is just fascinating. Probably anyone who’s ever done some sort of geeky thing will relate to him… Newt’s obsessed with beasts and cataloguing facts about beasts. When I was a teenager growing up in the north of England, I was obsessed with lenses and cameras, so I really get that aspect of someone who’s truly obsessed with something.”
- Tina Goldstein: “she’s so adorable because she’s sort of so career-obsessed. A lot of us who work really hard can sometimes relate to that.”
- Jacob Kowalski: “Jacob is everyman, or everywoman, he’s pure and I like that.”
- Queenie Goldstein: “Queenie’s glamourous and somehow worldly but innocent.”
Yates says for casting, the key was Newt. Once they had landed Eddie Redmayne for the role, it was about building the quartet around him. They saw tons of actors trying to find the right fits, until they landed on Katherine Waterson and Dan Folger. “Eddie has done certain scenes from this movie so many times with so many different actors. When he was with Katherine, there was just something. It was amazing and I just thought, it’s got to be Katherine. It’s got to be. Then with Dan… Eddie and Dan are like Laurel and Hardy, so it had to be him. It’s funny, how they just clicked.”
Looking at Yates’ descriptions of the characters, I’m a little struck by how similar yet different from the Potter main cast they are. In Potter, Harry is our every-kid. He knows nothing of magic, and it’s his experiences with the wizarding world that stand in for ours. Here that part is more Jacob, the No-Maj who will stand in for us, and and our discovery. But the “fish out of water” aspect that Harry also plays as he learns his way around the world of magic will be Newt’s, since he is from a culture where Wizards don’t fear muggles, and have a comfortable if slightly removed world of their own. In a way, it’s a little bit like if Ron were the central character, in that Ron always took the world of magic, and his place in it, for granted. Which is perhaps why his love interest (Tina) sounds rather Hermione like, except instead of excelling in school, she’s attempting to excel at work instead. As for Queenie, one can assume she, like Ginny, is there so that everyone can find someone to pair off with when all is said and done.
Next: The 10 Big Moments of the First Fantastic Beasts Trailer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens November 18th, 2016.