Eddie Redmayne on His “Love-Hate Relationship” with the Niffler

by · April 11, 2016

Since the new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trailer was released last night, the Potter fandom has been buzzing with excitement as we’ve all watched the trailer over and over and dissected it. Since the release, Pottermore has given us a little bit more about two of the beasts featured in the trailer, and now we’ve heard something from the man himself – Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander).

Eddie spoke to the Pottermore Correspondent after presenting the clip at the MTV Movie Awards and shared his delight and relief at the trailer being out in the world.

Each time you put a little thing like that out into the world, it feels nerve-wracking. The weird thing about film-making is that you make films as a team and together; you care about every bit that goes out. You care what people think. I care.

Potter fans were excited to hear a familiar name in the trailer – Albus Dumbledore. Eddie commented on the way that J.K. Rowling has woven these two worlds and times together.

When I first heard the notion of this film and that it was set in a totally different time period [to Harry Potter] the question for me was, would those worlds ever collide? When I read the script, the delicacy with which J.K. Rowling weaves the names and the characters of a different generation to the one we know and love excited me. It still does.

Eddie also talked about the love he has for his character.

 What I love about Newt Scamander is that he’s his own person. He’s a passionate man, and he’ll do anything for those beasts.

And as for that Niffler…

I have a love-hate relationship with that little guy. He gets a little moment in the trailer, the Niffler. He’s ravaging a purse. I thought he did pretty immaculately in his debut, but there’s a lot more Niffler to come. He looked so sweet and adorable just then, but don’t be fooled.

Well, we can’t wait to see more of the Niffler!

You can read the full interview here. And make sure you watch the trailer here if you haven’t seen it yet. If you’re eager for more, then make sure to read MuggleNet’s thoughts on the trailer, as well as watch SpeakBeasty‘s trailer discussion.

What was your highlight from Eddie’s interview? What do you wish that we could learn more about? Let us know in the comments!