Eddie Redmayne Had To Swim Outdoors In The Dead Of “British Winter” For ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’

Plot details for Fantastic Beasts 3 are pretty much non-existent right now, but thanks to some fresh comments made by Eddie Redmayne, Wizarding World fans can at least expect some water-based action in the upcoming magical adventure.

During a chat with Jamie Dornan facilitated by Variety, the 39-year-old actor (who plays awkward magical zoologist, Newt Scamander) revealed that he had to get wet for the film. However, due to the lengthy production hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, his experience was a lot colder than originally expected.

“I can’t tell you anything other than the fact that I think I’ve got some night shoots in Watford, in Leavesden, [England], that we were meant to shoot in the summer in water,” Redmayne teased. “But now obviously because of lockdown, and the film shutdown, they’re being shot in early December. And suddenly, you find yourself swimming outdoors in British winter.”

That doesn’t give us much to go on, but since Newt interacts with magical creatures on a daily basis, it’s probably safe to assume that the sequence probably deals with some sort of aquatic beast. We may see the return of the Kappa first glimpsed in The Crimes of Grindelwald, although I personally theorize that we’ll be diving into the Black Lake located on the Hogwarts grounds. Remember: Newt returned to the school at the end of the last film, which makes me wonder if he’ll be interacting with the Grindylows, Merpeople, and/or Giant Squid that reside within the ominous body of water.

Of course, nothing is for certain and Redmayne sure isn’t talking. “What can I tell you about the plot?” he continued during his conversation with Dornan. “Really, not much, mate. I mean, when you come over for dinner, I can tell you. Except — I can’t, because that would be the NDA that I signed.”

In addition to Redmayne, the threequel’s cast also includes returning faces like Katherine Waterston (“Tina Goldstein”), Alison Sudol (“Queenie Goldstein”), Dan Fogler (“Jacob Kowalski”), Ezra Miller (“Credence Barebone”), Callum Turner (“Theseus Scamander”), and Jude Law (“Albus Dumbledore”).

Jessica Williams will be taking on a much larger role in the next movie as Eulalie Hicks, a professor at Ilvermorny, the American equivalent of Hogwarts. It’s also been confirmed that most of the action will unfold in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Perhaps the water scenes at Leavesden are standing in for the sunny beaches of South America?

Originally slated for summer 2021, the third Fantastic Beasts movie (it has yet to confirm an official title) will now Apparate into theaters on July 15, 2022. This time around, J.K. Rowling decided to relinquish sole writing credit and brought on Steve Kloves (screenwriter behind most of the Harry Potter films) to help her pen the script.

In addition to the delays caused by the COVID-19 health crisis, the project suffered another setback in November 2020 when Johnny Depp vacated the role of Gellert Grindelwald after losing a libel suit against The Sun. The actor was eventually replaced with Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen.