Katherine Waterson Commented on the Future of “Fantastic Beasts” and Supporting Trans Fans

by · January 14, 2025

With very little official information given, it is hard to say for certain whether the Fantastic Beasts film franchise will finish out its proposed five-film series. Prospects don’t seem too promising, however. Jude Law recently described the series as “certainly on hold,” while Eddie Redmayne remarked that fans have likely seen the last of his character, Newt Scamander, on the big screen. Katherine Waterston, who played the determined and heroic Tina Goldstein, concurs with her costars.

In an interview with NME, the actor commented on the possibly ill-fated franchise. “The last two films probably won’t get made, but that’s only based on a gut feeling,” Waterston said. “I know nothing and I’d probably be one of the last to know if something was happening because, with films of that size, people aren’t calling up the performers to keep them updated.” She added that she and the other actors are still under contract, but doubts any filming will happen before their expiration.

 

 

Waterston also addressed speculation regarding the reduction of her character’s role in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, a choice many fans found interesting. Some postulated the perceived demotion of the main character had to do with the Guardian article Waterston shared on her social media in support of trans women. “With those huge films, you never know why anything happens,” she said, mentioning also that she had not been afraid of publicly going against the views of the writer and producer of the series. “I didn’t think of it as a risk at all,” she commented. “And if it had, I would have done it anyway.”

She went on to explain that it was possible to be both grateful and critical, elaborating on how the stress between the two characterized her experience with the films.

 Fantastic Beasts was such a big break for me. Those films changed my life and I learned a lot from working on something of that scale. There’s so much that I’m grateful for and I want to be really clear about that. I do think about the fans a lot though. Harry Potter is a beautiful trans allegory and what a pity for young people [not to feel comfortable] engaging with that […] I really do love those fans though and the actors I worked with are friends for life. That was the real gift of the experience.

You can catch Waterston in her new spy series, The Agency, on Paramount+.