By Peter Hall
Update 7/9/15: Variety is reporting that the singer Alison Sudol will be playing Queenie, the younger sister of the previously cast Katherine Waterston. They also say that Ezra Miller ahs joined the cast in an unknown capacity and that Josh Gad and John Krasinski are both up for the same role.
Previously: The wizarding world of Harry Potter is two things: A) wonderful, and B) very, very British. Sure, the eight movies made from seven books do mention places outside of the Hogwarts homeland of Britain, and there are some characters and references from other countries thrown in the mix, but America is not one of them.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the new Harry Potter spin-off franchise written by J.K. Rowling herself, is set in America, however, and it just cast its female lead. Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice) will play Porpentina, shortened to just Tina, a witch who the main character Newt Scamander (recently cast as Eddie Redmayne) teams up with when he visits New York City in search of magical creatures to document.
That said, it doesn’t seem like Waterston will be playing the first American in a Harry Potter movie. According to The Wrap, Porpentina “works her magic in the U.S.,” which would imply she’s not from there. Plus, Waterston was born in London and Fantastic Beasts producer David Heyman told us that the British parts would go to British people. Which means that we’re still waiting to find out who the first major American witch or wizard is in the Harry Potter universe.
Perhaps what’s most telling about this news is that we know now both leads are over 30 years old. That age increase from the kiddos of the first Harry Potter series should give Fantastic Beasts a different tone overall. We have no doubt younger characters will be in it as well, but this definitely just won’t be yet another story about magical teenagers.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters on November 18, 2016.
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