--- ---  # This Is _Fantastic Beasts_ Star Eddie Redmayne's Favorite _Harry Potter_ Book  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 4, 2016 10:15 PM UTC  Jaap Buitendijk—Warner Bros.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 4, 2016 10:15 PM UTC [Eddie Redmayne](http://time.com/4437196/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-eddie-redmayne-wand/) — who plays magizoologist [Newt Scamander](http://time.com/4288830/fantastic-beasts-trailer-harry-potter/) in the upcoming [_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_](http://time.com/4436566/fantastic-beasts-second-release-date/) — thinks first is best when it comes to the _Harry Potter_ books. The 34-year-old actor recently revealed that _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_ is his favorite installment in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series. “I suppose I’d go with the first,” he told [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/04/fantastic-beasts-harry-potter). “My little brother, when he was 6 years old, he would always read it, and it had that instant immersion into the world that made you release your imagination.” However, when asked about the accompanying movies, Redmayne went to the opposite end of the spectrum. “My favorite film is probably the finale — _Deathly Hallows: Part 2_,” he said. “With the last two, they had something I kept rewatching, going back and watching Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Radcliffe do that extraordinary duel. When you’re \[casting spells on set\], the effects of this huge tension of what’s coming out of your wand is put \[into the shot in post-production; you’re\] literally acting with nothing, and I found it so operatic and deeply moving. I found it so climatically satisfying.” _Fantastics Beasts_ is scheduled to release on November 16th. Fantastic Beasts Eddie Redmayne Favorite Harry Potter Book ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4439978/fantastic-beasts-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter-favorite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4439978/fantastic-beasts-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter-favorite/"},"headline":"This Is Fantastic Beasts Star Eddie Redmayne's Favorite Harry Potter Book","datePublished":"2016-08-04T22:15:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:09.160Z","description":"The book chooses the wizard","url":"https://time.com/4439978/fantastic-beasts-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter-favorite/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","Harry Potter","Fantastic Beasts","fantastic beasts and where to find them","eddie redmayne"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068e34537f64a376/6988992d656a3f0c80bcc071/eddie-redmayne-fantastic-beasts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068e34537f64a376/6988992d656a3f0c80bcc071/eddie-redmayne-fantastic-beasts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM","caption":"Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them","creditText":"Jaap Buitendijk—Warner Bros.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4439978/fantastic-beasts-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter-favorite/","name":"This Is Fantastic Beasts Star Eddie Redmayne's Favorite Harry Potter Book"}}]}] ```