Katherine Waterston cast as the female lead for ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’

Katherine Waterston, previously seen with Joaquin Phoenix in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, has been cast to play Tina (short for Porpentina), a witch operating in the U.S. A report by  The Hollywood Reporter and the announcement made by Warner Bros. state the following:

“Porpentina meets magizoologist Newt Scamander (Redmayne) when he stops in New York City on his travels to find and document magical creatures.”

The British-born Waterston made her feature film debut in 2007 in Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton. She will portray Chrisann Brennan, the girlfriend of Steve Jobs, in Danny Boyle’s upcoming Jobs biopic Steve Jobs (currently in post-production according to IMDb).

J.K. Rowling  tweeted about the announcement, sharing her support for the casting of Waterston along with a link to a Vanity Fair article regarding the casting news.

Two pivotal roles remain to be cast: Queenie, Tina’s younger sister, and Jacob, Scamander’s rival. According to Variety, Warner Bros. “is said to be looking for more established faces for the spinoff” instead of newcomers, as was done with the original Harry Potter franchise.

J.K. Rowling will make her screenwriting debut with Fantastic Beasts and the film will be directed by David Yates.

The film is set to premiere on Nov. 18, 2016.