Zoe Kravitz Discusses her Role as Leta Lestrange

Jan 16, 2017

Posted by: Lainey Ruffner

Casting, Fantastic Beasts, Fantastic Beasts Movie, Films, Kravitz, Kravitz Interviews, Media, Movies, News, Yates Interviews

Zoe Kravitz makes such a quick appearance in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that you may have actually missed her if you weren’t paying very close attention. She appears only for a moment in a photograph found among Newt’s possessions, as his former love interest, Leta Lestrange. Although her addition to the film was small and the casting was last minute, the role needed to be considered carefully because the character will be much more present in the sequel.

Yates, the director, said this about the second film,

“Yes. Leta Lestrange comes into the second movie. She’s quite complicated and damaged and confused, and Newt is absolutely still in love with her. So, she has a kind of power over him, and she, yeah, she’s a kind of tragic figure, so we will see a bit more of her in the second movie.”

Kravitz, whom many of us may recognize from the Divergent Series films, is very excited to be a part of the series, even though her part thus far has been very small.

“I just went off of who was involved, and J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter films, so I knew it was going to be incredible, especially with how involved J.K. is. And then, I got to see the film, after I was already signed on, and it exceeded my expectations. That was a really interesting experience, to sit back and watch a movie that you loved, and then get to walk out and say, “I get to be in that!” It’s a very cool thing.”

fantastic-beasts-2-zoe-kravitz

Without really knowing the nature of her and Newt’s relationship it is a mystery for both of them as to what will transpire in the next few films. In the first movie when Queenie reads Newt’s mind after she sees the picture of Leta her reaction hints that there is a significant past between the two and that things did not end amicably. Kravitz believes, even though she was not given any specific details, that her and Newt’s relationship will be very complicated and that the details will be gradually explained to the audience with time.

“I think there’s a few ahead. The relationship between Leta and Newt Scamander is a complex relationship, so I think there will be a lot of time for that to grow and develop, which will be fun.”

The filming for Fantastic Beasts 2 is scheduled to begin this summer and Yates has confirmed that along with Kravtiz’s more involved role we will also see the return of many characters from the film first. Newt (Eddie Redmayne), Tina (Katherine Waterston), Queenie (Alison Sudol), Jacob (Dan Fogler), Credence (Ezra Miller), and Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) will all have a role in the sequel, although he did also mention that Newt may not be a lead character in the future films.

The second film is to be released on November 16, 2018 so until then we’ll have plenty of time to speculate about the history of Newt’s relationship with Leta and how it will be involved in the future as well as where Tina may come in to play.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.