J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is slowly gaining speed since talks of the actor who will be playing the lead role of Newt Scamander are now on an all-time high, and it looks like British actor Eddie Redmayne is in the forefront to portray the magical zoologist.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is based on the Hogwarts textbook that Harry, Ron, and Hermione and the rest of the non-muggle students studied from during their school days, and it is written by Scamander, who dedicated his life to the study of scientific creatures, according to Variety.
The Harry Potter spin-off will mark Rowling's screen-writing debut and she will translate to the big screen the many scientific adventures of Scamander, whose adventures are all set 70 years even before Harry Potter set foot in Hogwarts.
The author has also confirmed that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is "neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world."
Redmayne reportedly refuses to be associated with the film until he has read the script, which is currently being written. The actor has appeared in several popular movies of late, including the musical Les Miserables which also starred Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried.
He has also worked on Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl, where he plays the transgender artist Lili Elbe, as well as the movie Thomas the Tank Engine.
Redmayne made his film debut in the movie Like Minds back in 2006, then went on and appeared in other films such as The Good Shepherd (also in 2006), Savage Grace (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and My Week with Marilyn (2011).
His roles tend to either be a hit or miss - he was well-received as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), since Redmayne received several awards and nominations for it, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA Award.
Meanwhile, his portrayal of the villainous Balem might have been good, but the movie Jupiter Ascending which starred new mother Mila Kunis and Magic Mike actor Channing Tatum was such a flop that his talent was unfortunately wasted on the film.
Redmayne also does exceedingly well in theatre, and he was highly recognized in Red (2010), where he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
