--- title: Eddie Redmayne Shares His Main 'Fantastic Beasts' Fear description: The actor — who stars in J.K. Rowling's new magical movie as the animal-loving wizard Newt Scamander — was afraid of the green screen. canonical: https://time.com/4488451/eddie-redmayne-shares-his-biggest-fear-about-filming-fantastic-beasts/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T21:12:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:28.142Z og:title: Eddie Redmayne Shares His Main 'Fantastic Beasts' Fear og:description: When it came to filming the new J.K. Rowling movie, Redmayne had one challenge. og:url: https://time.com/4488451/eddie-redmayne-shares-his-biggest-fear-about-filming-fantastic-beasts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda9eac15d51c6ccf/6988a5a7f887dc6a90e9762e/eddie-redmayne.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CinemaCon 2016 - Warner Bros. Pictures "The Big Picture," An Exclusive Presentation Highlighting The Summer Of 2016 And Beyond og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eddie Redmayne Shares His Main 'Fantastic Beasts' Fear twitter:description: When it came to filming the new J.K. Rowling movie, Redmayne had one challenge. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda9eac15d51c6ccf/6988a5a7f887dc6a90e9762e/eddie-redmayne.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eddie Redmayne Shares His Biggest Fear About Filming _Fantastic Beasts_  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 12, 2016 9:12 PM CUT  Actor Eddie Redmayne attends Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Big Picture," an exclusive presentation highlighting the summer of 2016 and beyond at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Actor Eddie Redmayne attends Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Big Picture," an exclusive presentation highlighting the summer of 2016 and beyond at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.Gabe Ginsberg—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 12, 2016 9:12 PM CUT Anticipation continues to mount for the November premiere of J.K. Rowling’s [_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_](http://time.com/4288046/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-footage-mtv-movie-awards/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") and Oscar-winning [actor Eddie Redmayne’s](http://time.com/4439978/fantastic-beasts-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter-favorite/?iid=sr-link10 "undefined") turn as the legendary magizoologist Newt Scamander. It’s a lot of pressure on one actor, with a rabid global fandom chomping at the bit — and, [perfectionist that he is,](http://time.com/4437196/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-eddie-redmayne-wand/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined") Redmayne revealed he did have a main concern going into filming. “My fear was doing a lot of green screen, because I have quite a dodgy imagination,” Redmayne [told the _New York Times_.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/movies/fantastic-beasts-j-k-rowling-eddie-redmayne.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront "undefined") (For non-Anglophiles: “dodgy” translates as “unreliable.”) To get around this small personal flaw, Redmayne even asked an animator to get into character as one of the creatures and act out the beast’s mannerisms on set, all so that Redmayne could really get a feel for the CGI character and perform at his best in the face of a blank green screen. Redmayne also shared some inside information on a few of the creatures we’ll find in the movie, including what they look like (bowtruckles appear as a kind of cousin to the classic stick insect) and have distinctive mannerisms. (Hint: for _Harry Potter_ know-it-alls: nifflers can be subdued with some tummy tickling.) Clearly, the _Beasts_ team knows its audience won’t stand for anything other than absolute attention to detail. Read more at [_the New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/movies/fantastic-beasts-j-k-rowling-eddie-redmayne.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4488451/eddie-redmayne-shares-his-biggest-fear-about-filming-fantastic-beasts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4488451/eddie-redmayne-shares-his-biggest-fear-about-filming-fantastic-beasts/"},"headline":"Eddie Redmayne Shares His Biggest Fear About Filming Fantastic Beasts","datePublished":"2016-09-12T21:12:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:28.142Z","description":"Green screens can be tricky to act with","url":"https://time.com/4488451/eddie-redmayne-shares-his-biggest-fear-about-filming-fantastic-beasts/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","movies","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda9eac15d51c6ccf/6988a5a7f887dc6a90e9762e/eddie-redmayne.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda9eac15d51c6ccf/6988a5a7f887dc6a90e9762e/eddie-redmayne.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CinemaCon 2016 - Warner Bros. 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