Читать книгу Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Ian Nathan - Страница 10
EDDIE REDMAYNE
ОглавлениеAs soon as Eddie Redmayne read the script he knew he had to play Newt Scamander. ‘I found it funny. I found it thrilling. I found it dramatic,’ he says. ‘It took all the imagination and escapism of Harry Potter to the New York of flappers and prohibition. It was just a really exciting place to be.’
Newt, he recognized, was a ‘wonder’ of a role.
Which is a good thing. The core team of producers had originally put together a long list of all the stars they thought might be right to fill the boots of their eccentric Magizoologist. It was full of great actors and star names. But something strange had happened. The more they worked on the script, and the better they got to know Newt, the shorter the list became. Before they knew it, there was only one name left.
‘It all kind of led to Eddie,’ says director David Yates. In fact, it was like a spell – once you thought of him, you couldn’t think of anyone else. It was as if he was already Newt.
‘What Eddie has in spades is soulfulness,’ Yates explains. ‘I also love the shape of Eddie. He’s got an extraordinary shape, this vertiginousness. And I loved the idea of Eddie doing funny stuff, because he has done all this lovely serious stuff. Once we got Eddie it was about fitting the world around him.’
Getting Redmayne, however, wasn’t a foregone conclusion. The London-born actor had deservingly won an Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of the scientist Stephen Hawking afflicted with a rare form of motor neurone disease in The Theory of Everything, and was about to embark on the equally demanding drama, The Danish Girl. After maturing from theatre and television work into films as diverse as My Week with Marilyn and Les Misérables, he was now one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. As Yates admits, he could practically do anything he wanted.
But this wasn’t just anything; this was a script by J.K. Rowling set in her legendary wizarding world. Redmayne called back as soon as he could.
He loved it.
‘One of the things I love most is the variety,’ he says. ‘It jumps seamlessly between genres from physical comedy into a love story into action.’
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was about far more than casting spells and tracking down runaway beasts. As with all of J.K. Rowling’s work, there were hidden depths. Redmayne insists that Newt is far from a straightforward hero. ‘Throughout the film you realize that for all the wonder and excitement of his life there is a hole in there in some ways. There is a sadness and complexity in there.’
While making sure he was fluent in all the details of the wizarding world by rewatching the Harry Potter films, re-reading the books, and going over the script with a microscope, Redmayne met up with real zoologists. The script had described Newt as being like the great television presenter and animal expert, David Attenborough, and he wanted to understand why scientists devote their lives to studying animals.
His research took him to safari parks where he spoke to experts in animal breeding and discovered the extraordinary relationships they had developed with animals. ‘They literally had new-born cubs sleep in their beds with them,’ says an
astonished Redmayne.
There was also something about the way they moved. Anyone tracking a wild animal has to be incredibly silent. They turn their feet outwards, placing each footstep with the utmost care, or even crawl along the floor. Redmayne points out how in J.K. Rowling’s script she says that Newt ‘walks his own walk.’
Eddie Redmayne relaxes on set.
Newt and Tina are careful to remain hidden inside MACUSA.
The camera follows Eddie Redmayne’s gaze as Newt looks up.
Newt & Tina look for answers.
‘HE’S SO CHARMING AND FUNNY. AND HE BRINGS A REAL SENSITIVITY TO NEWT THAT I DON’T THINK A LOT OF ACTORS COULD PULL OFF.’
Such was Redmayne’s dedication not just to his part but the film as a whole that days after he agreed to play Newt, he was on a plane to New York to spend a weekend meeting the various actors who were up for the roles of Jacob, Queenie and Tina. Yates is proud of how the actor took it all in his stride.
‘It was like one of those Japanese game shows,’ he laughs. ‘He spent forty-eight hours in a hotel room doing the same scene with different actors. And out of that we were able to clearly see who was right for those roles.’
Out of that weekend of auditions they found the three actors who gelled perfectly with their Newt: Dan Fogler (as innocent Jacob), Katherine Waterston (as resolute Tina), and Alison Sudol
(as dreamy Queenie).
‘J.K. Rowling, David Yates and David Heyman were really keen to make the chemistry work between these people,’ says Redmayne. ‘It was wonderful to work with three such brilliant people, who all have such different qualities. We’re all bound up by this sense of responsibility. We don’t want to screw this up. We just want to do the characters proud.’
Fogler, whose character Jacob becomes almost a comic sidekick to Newt, claims they were all inspired by the excellence and strangeness of their lead wizard.
‘He’s so charming and funny. And he brings a real sensitivity to Newt that I don’t think a lot of actors could pull off.’
Waterston became in awe of his diligence to the tiniest gesture. ‘It was as if his work was never done,’ she says, having shared so much of the film with him. ‘It’s always more fun to work with people who set the bar really high. Plus, he’s not a jerk, which helps too!’
For Redmayne, entering this world has been all he dreamed it would be and more. He had half suspected he would face ‘a world of green and blue curtains’ but he was staggered by the scope and scale of the sets. ‘The entire world is fastidiously detailed, from New York in the 1920s, with its shop fronts and the cobbles on the street, to the interior of Newt’s case, which is more of an abstract world and yet fully realized. What has been so amazing to me is you read Jo’s script and imagine what it is like, then you arrive on set and it is bigger, better and wilder than your own imagination.’
Redmayne claims that he couldn’t have had two better guides through this world than the ‘two Davids’ – Heyman and Yates. ‘I can’t think of two more passionate people to take these stories into the world of film,’ he says. ‘They are scrupulous with character, but allow you the freedom and space to come up with your own ideas.’
He has also been enormously grateful that J.K. Rowling has remained so close to the production, visiting the set with updates to the script and yet more knowledge to impart on every aspect of the wizarding world.
‘We just jumped straight into his character,’ he laughs, ‘and she gave me all of his backstory, and answered any question I had about him and this world and all the beasts. For an actor that’s the dream.’
CAST AND CREW FATHOM THE ENIGMA OF NEWT SCAMANDER
J.K. ROWLING (WRITER & PRODUCER)
‘I like Newt as a character. I like what Newt’s all about. I’m also very interested in the period of wizarding history in which he was living and active, and hardcore fans will know what I mean by that.’
DAVID HEYMAN (PRODUCER)
‘Newt is an outsider, uncomfortable with people, comfortable with creatures. He marches to his own beat. He’s never been to New York before. He’s never seen steam coming up from the underground. He’s never seen this much traffic in his life. He’s very much a fish out of water.’
DAVID YATES (DIRECTOR)
‘He’s a unique character, because nobody thinks beasts are a good idea to get involved with. They can poison you.’
CARMEN EJOGO (SERAPHINA PICQUERY)
‘I think that the way that Eddie Redmayne is approaching the character and the fact that he is an Englishman in New York really adds to the otherness that we’re exploring in this film. Newt is the perfect embodiment of otherness in many ways. He is more like a Buster Keaton character. He’s not quite an antihero, but he’s certainly not your typical hero. He comes with foibles and insecurities and all kinds of messiness. From the costume to the hair to the mistakes he makes throughout. I think he is a really endearing leading man.’
ALISON SUDOL (QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN)
‘Newt brings a humanity towards these creatures, which are previously misunderstood. That’s the beauty of his character. Through his eyes we get to see how lovely they are.’
DAN FOGLER (JACOB KOWALSKI)
‘When Newt is trying to coax the Erumpent back into the zoo by doing a very, like, sensual dance – because the Erumpent is in heat – that’s hysterical, but it’s also science. That’s where he’s like David Attenborough. I could just imagine David Attenborough sticking his head up in one of these scenes and trying to coax an Erumpent back into its case.’
EZRA MILLER (CREDENCE BAREBONE)
‘There is something that is quintessentially perfect about Newt for Eddie, because there is this innate charm and what I can only describe as a wonderful Britishness that Eddie already has. He is someone with a lot of integrity and kindness and warmth. And Newt is like that. He’s a little befuddled, a little all over the place, which we can all identify with.’
RON PERLMAN (GNARLAK)
‘Eddie Redmayne, don’t let him know I said this, because I don’t want him to know how good he is. But just winning the Academy Award® shouldn’t have been the signal. He’s the real deal. He’s going to have quite a body of work behind him before it’s all over with. He’s really deep and layered and kind of a beautiful dude to go along with it.’
Director David Yates and Dan Fogler watch the action unfold on set. • Katherine Waterston carries Newt’s case as she and Eddie Redmayne take instruction from their director. • David jokes with production designer Stuart Craig and associate production designer James Hambidge.
David Yates was in the South of France when his phone insisted it be answered. David Heyman, his longtime producer, was on the other end of the line getting straight to the point: ‘Would you read this script?’
Reasonably enough, Yates first wanted to know what it was.
‘It’s called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,’ Heyman replied. ‘Jo’s written it.’
‘Jo’ was J.K. Rowling.
Yates had to read it. He had to know what it was about. A secret package duly arrived, if not by owl then by highly secure channels.
Yates’ first encounter with Newt Scamander and Magizoology seemed blessed by its own magic. ‘I was absolutely enchanted,’ he recalls. ‘It was so fresh and different and special.’
Twenty-four hours later it was Heyman’s phone demanding to be answered, and his old friend was on the other end of the line getting straight to the point: ‘I have to make this film.’
Yates earned his stripes on British television, garnering particular acclaim and a pile of awards for his six-part political thriller State of Play in 2003. Heyman admired Yates’ dynamic direction, his ability to direct such a wide variety of tones, how in State of Play he made the world of politics so accessible, which felt appropriate given that the world of Potter was becoming more political. It is true that Yates has shown himself to be a wonderful director of actors and it was important that the actors continue to be pushed and challenged.
Heyman was keen for a director to stretch the young cast of Harry Potter into the dramatic demands of the later books.
‘It’s changed my life really,’ Yates reflects of the years he has spent in J.K. Rowling’s universe. ‘It’s been an extraordinary journey. It’s been good … and strange sometimes. You’re privileged when you get a chance to work in this world, but in all honesty you can never quite get a handle on it.’
The stress and expectation, he says frankly, can be extreme. Still, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
And over those years climbing the mountains of Harry Potter, and now navigating the peaks of Fantastic Beasts, he has come to know Heyman as a friend as well as a collaborator, establishing the key creative partnership behind the scenes of J.K. Rowling’s expanding Wizarding World.
‘He’s very discerning and very hard to please,’ says Yates with a smile.
Yates describes his own style as ‘measured’. He tries to get the best out of everyone without resorting to hysterics. The work may be demanding, but there is no friction on his sets.
‘So I need David for friction,’ he laughs. ‘I need David to drive me nuts. There’s a very British thing of being diplomatic about getting to the point you need to reach, whereas David and I can just tell each other what we really feel without offending each other, which is quite healthy.’
Yates has also got to know J.K. Rowling fairly well, although save for a couple of special visits she stayed at arm’s length from the earlier productions. Given she had written the new script herself, this was a novel experience for the both of them.
‘It’s been one of the highlights of making this movie, to work so directly with her,’ he says. ‘When she’s at a distance she’s kind of a rock star. She’s sort of an icon. She is part of the cultural landscape. But when you are in a room with her bashing ideas back and forth what is so enchanting is that she’s very grounded, very pragmatic.’
Alison Sudol discusses her scene in a bakery with her director. • David Yates shares a joke with Eddie Redmayne.• Jon Voight listens closely to the director’s thoughts on Henry Shaw Sr’s next scene.
‘I FELT INVESTED IN THE FOUR CENTRAL CHARACTERS, ALL OF WHOM ARE ACTUALLY GROWN-UP CHILDREN. THAT WAS WHAT WAS FASCINATING ABOUT THEM’
The director who worked through some dark times with Harry Potter was charmed by how completely different J.K. Rowling’s new slant on the wizarding world turned out to be. One of the chief draws for Yates was that, while it has its darker elements, it was an altogether more upbeat, well, beast.
‘It just won me over,’ he says. ‘I felt invested in the four central characters, all of whom are actually grown-up children. That was what was fascinating about them. They are all quite pure. They are all trying to make their way in this bigger, grown-up world.’
In other words, it allowed him to flex a whole variety of storytelling muscles – Fantastic Beasts was emotional, funny, romantic, and twisted and scary all at the same time. ‘Jo has such dexterity,’ he says, ‘she can write a scene that’s utterly playful and witty yet has an authenticity to it.’ As well as making some daring tonal shifts without ever jarring the flow of the story: from Newt’s slapstick, to Jacob’s yearning, to Tina’s determination, to poor, damaged Credence who is mistreated by his authoritarian mother.
Everyone who has worked with him, can’t speak highly enough of the level-headed filmmaker. Cast and crew tell of his calm under pressure; that measured approach. But also his ability to fully understand the needs of whichever department has come looking for insight, and an almost magical gift to communicate with those fantastic beasts otherwise known as actors.
‘He doesn’t miss anything,’ says Jon Voight. ‘His little notes to us are very specific and detailed. Elia Kazan, who did On the Waterfront, listed the things a director had to be: a psychiatrist, a doctor, a plumber, a builder – all these things. He has to understand the machinery. He has to orchestrate all of it and then work with human actors. David Yates is one of those fellows.’
‘He’s extraordinary really,’ agrees Eddie Redmayne. ‘I mean, the scale of these films – I’ve never witnessed anything like it. You have so many departments that you’re shepherding, and what is amazing is that he manages to galvanize all of them, while remaining focused on the characters.’
