Eddie Redmayne on Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts, and more

Eddie Redmayne, the star of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, discusses his character, Newt Scamander, the time he met J.K. Rowling, and more.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne talked about his childhood affinity for magic.

"My favorite trick was this coloring book that you would open the pages, and the pages would be blank, then you’d then tap it with a wand, and you’d open the pages again and there would be like drawings, and then you’d tap in with a wand again and then all of the drawings would be colored in."

Doesn’t that sound like something that might appear in a Harry Potter book? They probably sell something like it at Flourish and Blotts.

That story is just one more reason why the affable Redmayne seems like a perfect choice to headline Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the next adventure in J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. Redmayne himself was “so excited” when he was first approached about the project around two years ago, and any fears he might have had that he wouldn’t connect with a character in a big-budget film franchise (he’s used to doing smaller-scale prestige projects) were quickly put to rest after he read the script and talked to Rowling, who wrote it. “[W]hat’s lovely is that J.K. Rowling has a staggering imagination to the thoroughness of the world,” he said. “I met her once, and she could talk back through everything, every intricacy. You’re not playing a real character, but in J.K. Rowling’s mind, [Newt is] entirely three-dimensional, and you can talk to her about what his life was like.”

"One of the wonderful things about the script is when you read it, it’s not just what the characters say, it’s the stage directions and descriptions in between. You have to read each thing; you can’t just skim it. When I met her, our instincts were pretty similar; it was just little details of his background that she was particularly helpful with."

That’s high praise, and a good sign that we’re in for something special with Fantastic Beasts. Redmayne seems like a man who takes his roles seriously (he spent a lot of time with real-life animal trainers to prepare for his role in Fantastic Beasts), and eagerly described Newt’s inner life to EW. “He’s a man with a passion, and his passion is animals,” he said.

"His mother bred hippogriffs, and it’s the world he’s most comfortable in. He’s not particularly comfortable with human relationships. He’s comfortable in his own skin, but he disconnects with people. People seem to misunderstand him, and he doesn’t know why, but he’s also not particularly interested in why. He has his own relationship with his animals."

Sounds like prime fodder for a character arc to me.

Speaking of those animals, Redmayne revealed which are Newt’s favorites.

"There are two favorites. The Niffler — they have this wonderful love-hate relationship. It’s just incredibly aggravating and wonderful at same time. He’s a complete nightmare, yet Newt gets off on his playfulness and single-mindedness. And the Bowtruckle, Pickett, I love him. There are many bowtruckles in the film, but Pickett has attachment issues. Newt knows he shouldn’t have favorites, but he loves Pickett."

Incidentally, he has no least favorite beast. Again, I enjoy how enthused he seems about the project.

As expected, Redmayne avoided saying anything too specific about the plot (“the Warner Bros. troops would shoot me”), but did hint at “a great antagonism” between Next and the character of Tina Goldstein, played by Katherine Waterston (all great onscreen couples start out that way), and a romance between Tina’s sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Jacob (Dan Fogler), a

Muggle

No-Maj Newt befriends during his adventure in America. And while he didn’t go into any detail, Redmayne did give his opinion of what fans would find most surprising about the movie.

"One of the things that I found quite extraordinary about the script when I read it is that it’s there are moments that feel like a thriller. There is a dark aspect to it. There is a kind of comedic quality to it, and sort of romance. We have all these different genres, and yet somehow J.K. Rowling has managed to weave them together. I think it’s surprising about how moving it is. All I have when I read scripts is that instinct, and I was really moved by it."

Next: Eddie Redmayne reveals his favorite Harry Potter book and movie

Finally, Redmayne revealed that he had taken the Pottermore sorting test and confirmed that he was, like Newt, a Hufflepuff. See? He’s the perfect guy for this role.