I had a chance to see one of the first screening of “Fantastic Beasts : The Secrets of Dumbledore” and in-person Q&A after the video introduction of Jude Law, Mads Mickelson, and Alison Sudol the other day. I hope you enjoy reading the article of one of highly anticipated film series.
Synopsis : Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?
The video introduction of Jude Law, Mads Mickelson, and Alison Sudol
JL: Mads Mickelson is here, who you probably know plays the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
and Alison Sudol who plays Queenie Goldstein.
JL: I have the honor of playing one of the Wizarding world’s greatest wizards, Albus Dumbledore.
MM: That’s right. He is One of the greatest in the Wizarding world, but is he more powerful than Grindelwald. Well, that remains to be seen, and let’s not forget that Grindelwald is in the possession of the elder wand.
JL: He’s only in possession of the elder wand for…
AS: We are very sorry that we can’t be there in person. We are so excited that you’ll be among the very first audiences anywhere to see our new movie, Fantastic Beasts, the secrets of Dumbledore before it’s in theaters and in IMAX, which is the very best way to experience all the magic in the film.
MM: And the many secrets to be revealed but as Alison said, you’re about to be the first to find out. So no spoilers.
JL: Thank you all for coming tonight. And now we’re going to turn things over to a few more of our wizarding world friends who we know you’ll be excited to see.
Q&A with Actor Eddie Redmayne, Actor Dan Fogler, Director David Yates, Actress Jessica Williams, Actor William Nadylam, Actress Victoria Yates
Q : they could not be here tonight, but we have our own magic right here in New York city, here’s some special guests that everyone is excited to see everyone right now. Welcome everyone, congratulations. Thank you for being here. I know everyone’s excited. Everyone has their phones out, but we have some questions for you guys. If you don’t mind.
Q : So let’s start off with David…. Now, we recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Wizarding world. You’ve been a major part of cinema history. What have you loved about continuing this journey through what, seven films, what is it about it and what is this new film going to take us on the journey?
DY: the people we work with, it’s an extraordinary family that we create in front of the camera and behind it. So it takes you back again and again, the stories are always fabulous. JK creates these incredibly incredibly encyclopedic wonderfully immersive stories that are great to dive into as a filmmaker, it’s a bit like going to a filmmaking gym. There’s a horror story in one and then a comedy and then a bit of emotion. So you’re always being challenged and tested and that’s a real pleasure.
Q : What are we going to get tonight?
DY: Tonight is a love story, a passionate love story between two, well, actually two different couples in the same. both are very, very much in love. And that’s how I described it. Actually we’re celebrating love.
Q : Eddie, Newts connected to the beasts like no other character. I think you can agree. Can you talk a little bit about what makes the responsibility of being the only magi zoologist in the Wizarding world so important to Newt.
ER: What’s making me really happy is, how difficult it is to imagine what a magi zoologist is, you know. I love Newt for his singular passion, whatever that passion is is always in his character. Even though he has his eccentricities… when he’s most newty when he’s among his creatures. And in this film, you’ve got some of the great old favorites that are back.
The nifler’s back and Teddy, and pigit which is wonderful. Spoiler… you’re meeting the magical, they look sweet but beware.
Q: All right. So Jessica, we briefly meet ULaly in the second movie, right. But in the secrets of Dumbledore, she’s a central character. So tell us a little bit more about
JW: Yes. I played the professor. She is a charms professor at the university Where’s it in school and she has someone who wants to join his team of misfits, to help defeat Grindelwald. And what’s great about her shoes. Feel like she’s really good at seeing into the hearts of people. And I think that she’s someone that you can really depend on and she does some really cool magic.
Q : Now, William, what kind of do you set to join the fight against Grindelwald and the dark forces?
WN: As you know, when Yusef entered the last story, he was quite devastated. This is a man who’s lost his mom, his dad and his sister. So, he’s not someone who is a happy person, not someone you would like to go on vacation with. Although I would cheer him up. In this one. What happened is that. Yusef has met people. This is the one who doesn’t trust anyone who isn’t loved by anyone. And isn’t that a family he’s been rescued by newt. And he found purpose with Dumbeldore, gave him a family and is testing trust and eventually love. And by the way, the activities of family, because of another brother in law. So, yeah, and he has a mustache.
Q : Victoria, she has always played a key role in the world, but she really steps out of the shadows this time around. Right. So without giving away too much, no spoilers, obviously, but can you talk about where we find her in this film?
VY: Yes. So when I joined, it was only going to expand from T’s character. It was very exciting to see how they were going to do that. She’s very happy with the animals in the basement but In this film, she gets a mission from Dumbledore, a very important mission. and the weight of the world is sort of on her shoulders.
Q : It’s so tough. Without giving too much away. Dan, Jacob is presented with a special gift from Dumbeldore — a wand. What did that mean to Jacob? And what does it mean to you?
DF: Oh yes, it means as much to Jacob as it does to me. It’s very special, watching these wizards with their wands for the last two movies. Longing for a wand. And it’s like it’s very special. They gave me no training, but I didn’t want any training — I had to wing it. I’m a natural. Yeah, exactly. And, that’s a lot of the fun that comes out of, you know, the comedy that you’ve seen the scenes in the movie where this muggle is trying to use this wand, trying to figure out how to use it, not quite being able to control it.
Q : What is your favorite room in Hogwarts?
JW: The gryffindor common room — it’s really cozy.
ER: It’s an obvious one, but a goodie. We got to go into the great hall for the first time in this movie. And it was probably, that was a pretty spine-tingling.
DF: I got to eat breakfast and it was delicious. It was really good. That was really cool, man. Really bite-size witches and wizards. That really solidified the fact about you’re part of this Harry Potter universe and the food was delicious.
VY: Really fine.
Q : What your favorite part of the movie was to film without ruining anything?
DF: Stump the cast…
VY: It’s just so incredible — mind blowing.
WN: I can’t tell which was the best scene for the film, but I can tell you, which was the saddest. Then the final one.
Q : Did you keep the mustache?
WN: I didn’t want it to stop. I kept the mustaches.
Q: For the entire cast. How many wands… Who broke the most ones while filming?
JW: Oh, Nobody. There’s no opportunity to break the wands. I think Daniel Radcliffe broke a million wands . Now it’s like, they give you the one in a briefcase, right. And then they take it from you. And I’ve definitely tried to steal some wands, but I unfortunately was not able to.
ER: But the case is like one of those stainless steel cases that you see in heist movies or old bond movies where Q brings it to Bond. It’s pretty well protected.
Q : Maybe David, this question might be the best for you. Why is this movie a must see on the big screen?
Oh, you’ve got, if you’re going to Hogwarts, you’ve got to see it on the big screen. It’s immersive, especially in IMAX. Um, these huge screens are alive, held into the store. Think about seeing these stories, collectively issue, share the experience. I would say it’s like, for me, it’s almost like going to church when you have the wonderful experience together, things that are funny and even funnier when you’re laughing with another 200 people and things are more moving when you share that moment with a big bunch of strangers. I think that’s the beauty of cinema. That’s why it will never go away because those moments are amplified when we experience them together, in a sense.
Q : I heard an amen in the back. How long did it take to film the movie?
VY: Well, we know it was six weeks when I started filming and then I was then like 38 weeks pregnant.
ER: It’s longer than that, because there was this… David and I did a pre-shoot on a Friday and it was down in the case and we were working together and we went to start filming on the Monday and on Sunday night there was a call saying this thing called COVID is really a headache. We’ve got to shut down for a month,
DY: it was two weeks, and then I think it was something like five months, three four months, Wow. All right.
Q : Eeady to experience this movie in IMAX. everyone in the audience, no matter where you are along everyone to raise your walls. Raising up, you guys have yours on the side over there. Alright, there we go. All right. So you want to kick things off?
ER: I’ve never got to hold them or what, what am I doing? This is Dumbledore’s.
DF: Did you steal your wand? Give me a wand…
Q : Yeah. Let’s just start it off and get this thing going!!!
