Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald star Eddie Redmayne believes that Newt Scamander is somewhere on the Autistic Spectrum.
Prior to the release of the latest installment of the Wizarding World franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Eddie Redmayne revealed that he believes his character, Newt Scamander, is somewhere on the autistic spectrum.
Newt Scamander is certainly not the typical hero that you see portrayed in movies. Awkward, shy, reserved, and a self-confessed annoyance to other people; yet despite his little eccentricities, Newt has certainly captured the worlds attention.
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During an interview with Digital Spy, Eddie Redmayne spoke about his character and how everything that makes Newt, well, Newt, are signs of him being on the autistic spectrum.
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"“When he was first described by Jo [Rowling] in the first film there were various qualities – the way he walked, the way he looked, and his eye contact – was spoken about,”“I think he is on the Asperger’s spectrum. At that point, it hadn’t been defined – that was in the ’40s, I think – so those qualities were something, yes.”"
Will this be something that will be addressed in future installments of the movies? Probably not. With the time period that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is set in, autism had still not been officially recognized amongst the medical world. So it would make sense not to address the possibility of Newt being autistic.
However, on the flip side. It would be a good thing if autism was recognized. The most recent positive portrayal of an autistic character was the reboot of Power Rangers, which was highly praised for doing so.
Apart from that, it has been an incredibly long time. So if Newt Scamander is autistic, as Eddie Redmayne believes, it would be a positive move by the franchise.
What do you think? Do you agree with Eddie Redmayne and believe that Newt Scamander is autistic? Drop a comment below with your thoughts.