What The Fantastic Beasts And Potter Films Are Ultimately About According To Producer And Actor

Say what you will about the stories being told in the Harry Potter novels, but you can’t say they’re lacking in thematic ambition. Each entry in the overall saga is layered with twists, turns, motivations, and heavy themes — the kinds of themes that made the novels controversial when they first hit bookshelves all those years ago.

This overall approach and ambition carried over into the Harry Potter films, and even amped up quite a bit in 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Based on what we’ve seen so of this month’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, this is something that’s bound to continue growing going forward. But what are these films about ultimately? Given how seriously Rowling takes her craft, you know she has some thoughts in mind as to what exactly she’s trying to say, thematically.

At a recent roundtable with producer David Heyman and actor Callum Turner, the latter of whom plays the role of New Scamander’s brother Theseus Scamander, this very question was asked. Here’s what they had to say.

Turner: I mean, I think honestly the whole thing that runs through Jo’s work from the very beginning is what Dumbledore talks to Harry about early on. It’s that we’re defined by the choices we make and this is film about the choices that people make and Callum can talk about his character and it can really talk about it in terms of the characters themselves, but really that’s a theme that runs through all of her work and is particularly at the heart of this one.

Heyman: Yeah, very much. I’d say what the film is about, taking that responsibility to become who you can be and you know these choices that people make expose who they really are. And that’s what we’re finding out in this world now. It’s highlighting certain situations with people, but it’s just bringing to light who they actually are. It happens in this movie.

RELATED – Fantastic Beasts 2 Producer Thinks Grindelwald is A Scarier Villain Than Voldemort

Both of their claims are very true, both in the case of Harry Potter, who rose to an occasion almost against his own wishes, and with Newt Scamander, who is seemingly thrust into a potential position of power. The choice aspect is also very important, because these movies inevitably also are about choices — as in, what do you choose to do when things start to get serious in our world?

Harry and his friends formed Dumbledore’s Army and fought against the oppression of the likes of Umbridge and Voldemort, and Newt seems to be rallying against the seduction and oppression of Grindelwald. Both villains look to oppress muggles and hold pureblood wizards in the highest regard. Again, ambitious in both cases.

What do you think of these responses from the two talents? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: LRM Online

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