Gill Pringle
“I always loved the Potter films, I always watched them and went ‘yeah, why haven’t I gotten the call?’ So when I heard that JK had written her first original screenplay, and that it was going to take place some 80 years before Potter was born, but exist in the same universe, and that I was going to get to talk to David Yates about it, I was thrilled. Just the idea of having a wand! I mean, I know I’m forty, and maybe I shouldn’t get so excited about things like that, but it’s such a powerful thing that went out into the world. First, obviously, in book form, and then the films were all done so beautifully, and with such a dignity, and the cinematography and the performances, and the production design of every single film was so extraordinary, it’s touched so many lives. I’m not saying that our one is going to do the exact same, or whatever, but I was coming to it as a fan of the Potter films, so it was gorgeous that I could ever be a part of it.”
Was there ever a Harry Potter role that you would have liked to have played?
“No, I mean, it’s pretty obvious, but I love Mad-Eye Moody. Probably because I love Brendan [Gleeson], but I just love that character, I found him hilarious.”
Were you a fan of the original books, or the movies?
“No, my sister read all the books, so… I was too lazy, I just saw the films.”
2001, when the first Harry Potter came out, what did you think?
“I just went back and watched it a couple of months ago and it’s amazing to see how obviously the actors matured through the eight films, but [also] how filmmaking matured, not better or worse, just got different. I think there was a greater degree of trust in the material, and the weight of the material. The films got darker, as the characters got older. Because the first one is very light, and very childlike, it’s almost Nanny McPhee in the way it’s shot, and it’s beautiful, and it’s engaging, no less engaging than any others, but it’s interesting to see the evolution. Because I had seen the eighth one obviously last, and then I went back a couple of months ago and rewatched it. But yeah, I remember going to see it when it came out. I’ve seen them all in the cinema.”
Do you feel that Fantastic Beasts is lighter than the 8th film?
“Yeah, because I think the eighth film earned its right to be as dark and weighty as it was. We were already with the characters, and we needed it to go there, they needed that kind of expulsion of energy, and degree of danger in the climax of the series. Fantastic Beasts has themes that are dark and, from what I saw, and from what I read, some moments of hilarity as well, some moments of light and love. Things that JK seems to concern herself with, the nature of relationships and the nature of friendship, and even blossoming love, and the nature of belonging, or feeling isolated, by a community. So all those themes are explored as well.”
What kind of magician is you character, is he on the dark side?
“Very powerful wizard, very powerful. On the dark side? No, good ol’ Gravesy. He is the director of magical security at MACUSA, I think you can tell what that is, it’s the Magical Congress of the United States of America. So he’s the head of security there, and somebody who has been charged with upholding and protecting the safety of every single wizard, pretty much, in North America. If there are any interactions that are in any way violent, or in any way create a friction between mere mortals, which we call No-Majs in this film, I investigate them. If there’s any black magic or any of the Dark Arts being explored where they shouldn’t be explored, I investigate that as well, and that’s it.”
Is he against Newt [Eddie Redmayne]? What’s the relationship there?
“No, not at all. No. Newt and him cross paths a couple of times in the film. Newt is of interest to him, there’s an investigation going on and Newt’s of interest, from that I know.”
You talked about the humour in the movie, and you’ve always had a good sense of humour, was that fun? What kind of humour is it?
“Well, my guy’s not so humorous. Graves is not one to crack a joke, but some of the stuff when I read through the script, and when we did a script read-through, and interactions between Alison [Sudol] and Dan [Fogler] were very sweet, and very light and lovely, and some of the interactions between the characters were hilarious, so that’s just what I’m judging that on.”
David seems like such a sweet gentleman.
“He’s a really, really, lovely human being. I’m not over at his house every weekend, but I worked with him fairly closely, and I just – well, you watch people you work with on set, and you can’t help but see how people treat each other, whether it’s the actors, the directors or the producers. And he’s just so patient, and he’s so kind, with everybody. I mean, you get a director who’s directing, if there’s a crowd scene, and the director’s actually directing the crowd themselves, that’s something that’s very respectful, you know? That’s giving everyone an idea of where they are, everyone a context for what the story needs at that moment. And he’s so smart, he’s so bright, and he’s so emotionally invested in the story, while maintaining a clinical objectivity so he can actually be together enough to tell the story and give it what it needs. He’s very emotionally connected to all the characters, so I think he’s one of those people who believes that you can have all this pomp and circumstance, this magic, and all these grandiose set pieces and special effects, but if you don’t care about the human beings that are inhabiting the world, it’ll be a nice trick for the eyes for a couple of hours, maybe, but you’ll be bored, you won’t be as engaged as he wants you to be in his work. So he’s very detailed. I remember times where he’d just go ‘okay, forget we’re wizards, forget magic for a second, just bring it back to the end of the day, it’s human beings’.”
You mentioned before that you were looking forward to holding a wand. Then, when you were on set, what was it like?
“A bit ridiculous at first, and then you get over yourself, and you realise that it’s always ridiculous. It was fun.”
Did you keep the wand?
“I didn’t, I’ve struggled to keep less worthy things throughout the years, I must see if I can get my hands on it.”
Did you choose it?
“The wand, through discussion, was chosen for me, it was very particular. And yeah, when I saw it, I thought, well that makes sense.”
You’ve done a lot of adult movies in your career, does it just feel like the right time for you to do a family film?
“It just came before me, and honestly, as we were saying, I’d always gone watching the Potter films, ‘God, I would love to be in one of them, it looks like so much fun’, and to bring that much entertainment and joy to such a wide audience, it’s just a nice thing to be a part of, I believe. So when it came before me, it was perfect. It would be nice if my kids like it.”
Are you good at reading stories to your kids?
“Yeah, I read at night. We have a load of books, and the kids get to choose. I make up stories, too, bad ones.”
When you stepped into the wizarding world for the first time, what was it like to walk into MACUSA, and see it created and be a part of that?
“Extraordinary. I’ve been privy to some incredible craftsmanship over the years, like some of the sets on Alexander were spectacular, and some of the sets on Total Recall were pretty amazing too, but this was just next level stuff. And it was so grand, the scale and the scope of them, but then the detail of the minutia, like you would go into the corner of one set that you know the camera will never see, and it will be stacked with props, story irrelevant props, the right period. And it was amazing. And then, people say that sets and costumes do lots of the work, they really do, they place you in the world, and you can walk into MACUSA, and it was a very different feeling, somewhere you’ve never been before.”
And then, when you’re acting opposite all these creatures, they’re not there?
“I did a little bit of it, but I don’t have that much interaction with too many beasts. But I did a little bit, and you just figure out an eye line, and know that they’re going to do some great stuff afterwards. And then wonder if you overplayed it or underplayed it, based on what you couldn’t see. But they’re very helpful, they’d give you artist drawings of what you might be looking at. But a lot of the stuff I had to deal with was all practical, and all there. If they did have a green tarp up, it was all in the distance, to have a skyline that was bigger.”
Obviously, you take the work seriously, but do you also believe that you shouldn’t take oneself so seriously?
“Yeah, I mean, there’s times when you’ve got to take life seriously, it demands that you do that from time to time. But if one is to judge one’s worth as a human being from all this stuff that I do, you’re fucked.”
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is in cinemas November 17
