Fantastic Beasts' Dumbledore is much more "youthful"
Harry Potter fans are getting the first hints about what they can expect from Jude Law as beloved character Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Jude will be playing a much younger version of the wizard brought to life in the original Harry Potter film series by the late Richard Harris and then Michael Gambon.
Each of those actors brought their own magic to Dumbledore, and it sounds as if Jude Law's version of the wizard is a synthesis of his predecessors and his own unique touches.
"One of the reasons we chose Jude is he has many of the qualities we find in Dumbeldore in the Potter films," producer David Heyman told Entertainment Weekly. "He's got authority, he's got a twinkle in his eye, he's sometimes a bit elliptical.
"So you have that but also have this youthful energy and jubilance. So he brings that twinkle, mischief, authority, and power, but at the same time brings far more youthful energy to the film.
"You understand why he would be your favorite teacher and be someone you believe is an extraordinary wizard."
The second Fantastic Beasts movie matches up Dumbeldore, and his protege Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), against the dark wizard Grindelwald - who'll be played once again by Johnny Depp.
Director David Yates previously explained how Depp landed the role: "The whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, 'Who's going to take this in an interesting direction?' In this business, it's a weird old business. You're brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent.
"Johnny Depp is a real artist. He's created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He's a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character.
"He's fearless; he's imaginative; he's ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don't care if he's famous or not famous. We just know he's interesting."
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be released on November 16, 2018.
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