In a interview to The Cut, from New York Magazine, actress Jessica Williams, who portrays an professor from Ilvemorny in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, told how she had been called to take part in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
The actress got to known [J.K. Rowling] via Twitter and they met to have dinner in London, when they found out two things in common, their birthdays are on July 31st and they like to play The Sims. Sometime later, Rowling asked Williams’s e-mail to send her the description of a new character she was creating and to invite her to take part in the Fantastic Beasts‘ cast. The actress got emotional: “I read it and was just crying – it was unreal”.
After being watched by movie’s executive producers and being taken on a tour through Leavesden Studios, where Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts were shot, her participation on the movies was confirmed. “I was just shaking”, said Williams. Just to be where they shot Harry Potter… to see hair and makeup and renderings and how much thought and detail goes into creating and living the Potter universe…”, she remembers.
Even though she cannot reveal information about her character, Eulalie Hicks, Williams guaranteed J.K. Rowling gave the actress total freedom to create her. “She wanted to give me autonomy as a woman and also as a black woman. That’s an incredible on such a massive production. She wanted my character to look the way I felt like this character should look”, she explained.
More:
Pottermore reveals cover for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald screenplay
Written by [J.K. Rowling] and directed by [David Yates], Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald premiers on November 16th, 2018. The sequel takes place in New York, London and Paris, with references to the [Harry Potter] stories. A few months after being captured, Grindelwald escapes dramatically from MACUSA and conquers followers to his witch supremacy cause. With help from the magizoologist Newt Scamander, the only wizard capable of stopping him is Albus Dumbledore, a Hogwarts professor. In a darker era of the Wizarding World, the characters will face dangers to test their loyalty.
News by: Gabriela Schulz
Translated by: Caroline Dorigon
Reviewed by: Aline Michel