--- title: JK Rowling Says Fantastic Beasts Inspired By Global Populism description: Author J.K. Rowling said the rise of global populism in recent years influenced the story of her new movie. canonical: https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-11T15:32:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:24:47.792Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: JK Rowling Says 'Rise of Populism' Inspired Fantastic Beasts og:description: The Harry Potter author spoke before the New York premiere of her new movie og:url: https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5155aff2739d85e3/6988ae29fb4eac127d88fda8/gettyimages-622252832.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" World Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: JK Rowling Says 'Rise of Populism' Inspired Fantastic Beasts twitter:description: The Harry Potter author spoke before the New York premiere of her new movie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5155aff2739d85e3/6988ae29fb4eac127d88fda8/gettyimages-622252832.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # JK Rowling Says 'Rise of Populism' Inspired _Fantastic Beasts_ by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 11, 2016 3:32 PM CUT  Author J.K. Rowling attends the premiere of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on November 10, 2016 in New York City. Author J.K. Rowling attends the premiere of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on November 10, 2016 in New York City.Taylor Hill—FilmMagic by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 11, 2016 3:32 PM CUT Speaking before the world premiere of [_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_](http://time.com/4434040/jk-rowling-harry-potter-fantastic-beasts/ "undefined")in New York on Thursday, [J.K. Rowling](http://time.com/4564269/jk-rowling-donald-trumps-victory-reaction/ "undefined") said the rise of global populism in recent years influenced the story of her new movie. The _Harry Potter_ author explained that _Fantastic Beasts_ grew out of “things that are very important” to her “in the world at the moment.” “I conceived the story a few years ago, and I think I was partly informed by a rise in populism around the world,” she added, according to the [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/movies/jk-rowling-says-fantastic-beasts-grew-out-of-world-events.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&%5Fr=0 "undefined"). _Fantastic Beasts_ is set in the U.S. in the 1920s and centers on the life of ‘magizoologist’ Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne), the future author of Harry’s Hogwarts textbook, and grandfather-in-law to Luna Lovegood. Scamander’s study of magical creatures takes him to New York, where tensions are rising and inequality among wizards is high. Meanwhile in the real world, populist movements have inspired Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the victory of Donald Trump in this week’s presidential election. Rowling has made no secret of her dislike of President-elect, who she has said is [worse than Lord Voldermort](http://time.com/4140185/j-k-rowling-donald-trump-voldemort/ "undefined"). Tweeting after the election Wednesday morning she wrote: “We stand together. We stick up for the vulnerable. We challenge bigots. We don’t let hate speech become normalised. We hold the line.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/"},"headline":"JK Rowling Says 'Rise of Populism' Inspired Fantastic Beasts","datePublished":"2016-11-11T15:32:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:24:47.792Z","description":"\"I conceived the story a few years ago, and I think I was partly informed by a rise in populism around the world\"","url":"https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/","keywords":["JK Rowling","Harry Potter","Fantastic Beasts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5155aff2739d85e3/6988ae29fb4eac127d88fda8/gettyimages-622252832.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5155aff2739d85e3/6988ae29fb4eac127d88fda8/gettyimages-622252832.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\" World Premiere","caption":"\"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them\" World Premiere","creditText":"Taylor Hill—FilmMagic","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/jk-rowling/","name":"JK Rowling"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4567782/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-populism/","name":"JK Rowling Says 'Rise of Populism' Inspired Fantastic Beasts"}}]}] ```