Eddie Redmayne: One of the things I love about Newt is that he’s like a good wizard, but he’s not like an extraordinary wizard.

Newt goes and finds fantastic beasts that are in danger, because they’re a threat to the statute of secrecy [in the Wizarding World] and he looks after them. He’s quite an idealist. He believes that – with the right education programs – fantastic beasts should be able to exist in magical society.

There’s something in the script that J.K. Rowling describes as Keaton-esque in the way that he walks. He’s not someone that’s used to big cities and that was where I sort of started with him.

He does have a vulnerability but it’s not like he’s striving for a connection with humans. At the beginning of the film, he’s very happy in himself. He’s seemingly completely content in his skin, but it’s only when he realises that he can have a connection, that he sort of begins to fall for Tina. He connects with Tina and it’s very slow burn but it’s been wonderful to play. They start as antagonists, finding each other deeply frustrating, but by the end there’s a kind of sense of something.

Katherine Waterston: Her relationship with Newt? I think if you’re peculiar, it’s nice to meet other peculiar people. Whether it’s romantic or not, it’s lonely when you feel like you’re the only peculiar person out there. I think Newt and Tina are both kinda offbeat and have a lot of qualities that have often been attributed to geeks. I don’t really think of them as geeks, just a little bit unusual.

David Yates, director: What’s lovely about Newt is that he’s very funny but very lonely at the same time, so there’s something really compelling about him. I think the audience will feel for him but they’ll also find him very endearing and very funny.

And he has a dark secret – as some of Jo’s [JK Rowling] characters do – which we discover as the movie unfolds.

Eddie Redmayne: The film takes place over 2 days, so it’s a short period, and I love that. But these four people find themselves unexpectedly thrown together and they really are kind of very different people – two sisters and the muggle – which is Jacob – and then myself, and this is not a natural fit at all.

Colleen Atwood, costume designer: Tina is a very smart kind of person, very nerdy, not thinking about clothes. She’s also at the same time, very modern – she’s the only character other than Seraphina [Picquery, the President of the MACUSA, the American Ministry of Magic] who is ever in trousers as a woman.

She’s definitely not thoughtful about the process – she’s an eccentric person. Her clothes are a little bit messy always and a little bit off kilter, but they’re solid clothes and she pretty much wears the same thing the whole movie.

Dan Fogler: I go on a full rollercoaster with these guys and yeah, it’s really cool to be led into that world. I equate it being very much like myself entering this insane juggernaut of a franchise.

I get to look behind the veil, you know? The part reminds me of Bottom from Midsummer Night’s Dream. You know he’s just a regular schmoe that gets to play around with all the fairies in the forest.

JK Rowling was like ‘When I saw your tape, I knew this is the guy. I’m really excited to write for you’ and she just seemed like a Weasley character at heart – you know, like the Weasley family.