Carmen Ejogo’s Magical Reasons for Making Her ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Character Left-Handed

According to Pottermore, Carmen Ejogo’s interest in history led to her insisting that her character, Seraphina Picquery, was left-handed. Of course, Carmen herself is left-handed, but that doesn’t stop her having a creative, thoughtful reason for adding to her character’s personality:

‘It’s been a lot of fun to come up with a look and a personality that has that element of other-worldliness, I’ve never had to do that before’

‘The costume for Seraphina has been this wonderful evolution in the hands of costume designer Colleen Atwood. She was great because she let me contribute. All of my rings, for example. I said to her that maybe [Seraphina] should have all these rings on her fingers.’ 

The associations of left-handedness with dark magic, the devil, curses and – of course – historic witch trials has significant ties to the legacy of the Salem Witch trials in Fantastic Beasts, and Carmen knows this well:

‘I’m left-handed actually, naturally, but I know that that’s a very magical trait. I’d be thought of as a witch years ago. So I wanted to really emphasize my left hand and I thought we could put rings on it. Colleen was really into that idea’

Pottermore also connects this to a shoot in Liverpool, as well as reminding us that Joan of Arc was burn at the stake for heresy in 1431, which is connected to depictions of her as left-handed:

“When the Fantastic Beasts cast and crew went on location in Liverpool, they filmed a scene where angry protestors chanted ‘We want second Salem! We want second Salem!’. These ‘Second Salemers’, as they are known, want to banish witches all over again and are led by Samantha Morton’s character, Mary-Lou.

Keep that insight up your left sleeve, by the way; it’ll help you understand the importance of secrecy to the North American wizarding world at this time.”

Carmen Ejogo has managed to connect to her character personally, as well as transforming Seraphina into a  character who is thoroughly connected to North American wizarding history,  even down to the rings on her fingers!

How fitting, seeing as she is President of MACUSA, and an all round amazing witch, as shown by J.K. Rowling’s writings on Ilvermorny:

“Should more than one carving signify its wish to include the student in its house, the choice rests with the student. Very rarely – perhaps once a decade – a student is offered a place in all four houses. Seraphina Picquery, President of MACUSA 1920 – 1928, was the only witch of her generation so honoured, and she chose Horned Serpent.”

We look forward to seeing more of Seraphina’s carefully crafted character in the near future, head to Pottermore to read the full article here!