Check out new character information and cast interviews for FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD!
Hard to believe it, but we’re just one month away from the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. EW had the Fantastic Beasts cast on their cover recently, which has come with loads of new interviews and information. So let’s dive in, shall we?
First, there is a sneak preview of a Pottermore article on a new character in this film, Yusaf Kama. Check it out below:
Yusuf Kama, played by William Nadylam, is a French-African wizard who claims to be the last male member of his pure-blood family line, so his official character description tells us.
Although we’ve not seen much of this particular character from the trailers, we do know a few things about him — such as how he is on the hunt for another character we know a little better: Credence (Ezra Miller).
And, for the first time, we can reveal that Yusuf has actually taken an Unbreakable Vow to track Credence down — a magical promise meaning that if he doesn’t fulfill his task, he will die. We saw Severus Snape make one of these vows during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, promising to assist Draco Malfoy in Albus Dumbledore’s murder. So, as you can see, Unbreakable Vows are usually reserved for quite serious things, rather than, say, promising to make someone a cup of tea.
Yusuf also has a connection to Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz) in the new film: he’s actually her half-brother. How? Well, again, according to his biography, Yusuf’s mother was “taken” by an evil wizard called Corvus Lestrange, and ended up having a child with him — Leta. But why the obsession with Credence?
This new mysterious character does sound interesting, and I can’t wait to see what twists his presence will bring to the film. It sounds like he will be likely causing problems, but every story needs conflict!
Next, we have some interviews with the cast. In the first, the cast discusses their favourite elements of the Wizarding World. Katherine Waterston, who plays Tina Goldstein, said she loved how you can cook with a wand. And Jude Law, playing Albus Dumbledore, said that his favourite magical creature was the bowtruckle, because it can unlock any door. Zoë Kravitz, who plays Leta Lestrange, contested this, saying that the baby niffler is the best beast, and I think that many would agree with her on that.
In the next interview the cast discussed their favourite magical sayings. Eddie Redmanye, who plays lead character Newt Scamander, quickly answered “Petrificus Totalus,” which is the stunning spell. Zoeë Kravitz went simple, saying that her’s was the word “muggle.” It does just roll off the tongue!
The next interview sees the cast talk about what its like to work with author J.K. Rowling, which, to say the least, was a pretty amazing experience. This interview is actually in video form, so you can check it out below:
How amazing does that sound?! J.K. Rowling is so dedicated to these characters, its truly inspiring.
The next interview is with Claudia Kim, who is playing Nagini. She talks about her experience auditioning for the part, which was definitely different!
As Nagini is a maledictus, meaning she can turn into an animal (in this case a snake), Kim had to ‘transform’ in her audition. That’s right, she had to act like she was changing into a snake. That really is dedication to one’s craft. Kim said that it was difficult, but that she had to trust herself and her imagination. After being cast, Kim continued to work on her snake transformations with a contortionist. She also revealed that she happens to be afraid of snakes. So that was definitely a filming challenge!
The last interview is with J.K. Rowling herself. EW sat down with her and discussed what its like writing the Fantastic Beasts scripts and tried to tease out some information on the films to come. When asked asked about Gellert Grindelwald’s character, Rowling had this to say:
The first mention of Grindelwald is in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, so he has been part of the canon from the beginning. He was a very famous dark wizard whom Dumbledore defeated in 1945, a wizard who once owned the Elder Wand (as Voldemort did later). Although he remained rather mysterious in the Potter books, I had a very clear understanding of who Grindelwald was and what his story had been. Grindelwald is essential to an understanding of how Dumbledore became Dumbledore.
Grindelwald will definitely be an interesting character to delve into, as all we know about him right now is his legacy, so it will be fascinating to see his actual actions.
When asked about what it’s like to write more dialogue for Dumbledore, Rowling highlighted how fun it’s been:
It is no secret that Dumbledore is my favorite character in the Potter stories, so it was an absolute joy to have an opportunity to write dialogue for him again. He’s a fascinating character on so many levels.
She also revealed that she’s already got all five Fantastic Beasts films planned out, and that there’s a character who turns up in this movie that the fans will be surprised to see. Any guesses?
Finally, she talked about how each Fantastic Beasts film is set in a new place, though she won’t say where just yet:
It’s far too early to spoil anything. What I can say is that we’ll go to at least one new city in the next film, possibly two, and I’m keen to move outside Europe and North America. But you’ll just have to wait and see.
Well I feel like I know the cast a lot better now, don’t you? You can see them all onscreen in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The film will be out in exactly a month, on November 16, 2018.
Check out the links to all the interviews below: