Which actor played Newt Scamander in the J.K. Rowling film series Fantastic Beasts?

Eddie Redmayne played Newt Scamander in the J.K. Rowling film series Fantastic Beasts.

Redmayne portrayed the magizoologist in all three released films: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore. The first film was released in 2016 and was written by Rowling.

Newt Scamander is presented as the fictional author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a Hogwarts textbook first published as a real companion book in 2001. The film series expands that invented textbook author into a central character and places him in a story set decades before Harry Potter’s school years.

The role is distinct from Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe played Harry in the original film series, while Jude Law played a younger Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts films. Those casting connections can make the separate series easy to confuse.