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Fantastic Beasts stars Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Williams attend special fan event in Japan

Katie Pask Apr 17, 2022
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Redmayne and Williams are the first Hollywood stars to come to Japan since the outbreak of corona.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third movie in the Harry Potter spin-off series, was released in Japan earlier this month. The Fantastic Beasts series is one of the most popular films series in Japan, and in celebration of the movie’s release, two of its stars came to Japan for a special fan event.

Eddie Redmayne, who plays Magizoologist wizard Newt Scamander, and Jessica Williams, who plays Ilvermorny professor Eulalie Hicks, were in attendance, making them the first Hollywood stars to visit Japan since the outbreak of corona almost three years ago.

Fans who missed out on the event can see it here.

Someone else who was also there was our resident otaku Ninoude Punico, who was in the audience with her fellow fans, and got the full experience not just as a reporter, but an actual Fantastic Beasts super fan.

It’s been just over three years since Eddie Redmayne last visited Japan, to promote the second film in the series Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and both he and Jessica seemed thrilled to be back in Japan.

Eddie addressed the crowd of fans first, saying, “Finally getting to be here, sharing these secrets [of the film] with you, it blows my mind. Thank you for having us.”

And Jessica, who was wearing a skirt that resembled a pygmy puff, one of the movie’s iconic beasts, opened with, “Hi! I’m very hot right now!” which relaxed the mood and made the event feel like a group of friends hanging out.

The pair also looked around at the crowd, spotting some fans who had dressed up as characters from the movie and waving at them while the interpreters translated their answers into Japanese.

“I can see Grindlewald, I can see Bunty, I can see baby Niflers… I can see a Newt in there too. That makes me very happy!” Eddie exclaimed.

Next, it was time for a Q&A session, and a familiar question was posed to Eddie: “What Japanese food do you like?”

Eddie was quick to respond, commenting, “As far as food is concerned, I don’t know where to start in Japan. I’m obsessed with sashimi, I’m obsessed with ramen… I prefer thin noodles. I like a good firm texture.” He added, “But I also love anything that’s deep fried. I’ve basically been doing nothing but eat since I arrived in Japan. Tempura-ed anything makes me happy.”

But while Eddie’s answer showed he knew a fair bit about Japanese food, Jessica also seemed to be a fan of Japanese food and was eager to answer too.

“Nobody asked me, but I would also like to answer that question. I love a citron spicy ramen… yuzu ramen — I like the noodles really soft. I love the rice here. I love a Lawson’s egg sandwich. Family Mart and Seven & i Holdings — shout out to Seven & i Holdings — I love the snacks and I love the fruit snacks, the little hard candies, and I also love the sushi, and izakaya food, and gyoza…”

“She could go on… she talked for about an hour about rice earlier,” Eddie wryly added, and Punico felt her love for the pair grow more and more. It was fun to enjoy such a casual, relaxed atmosphere with two huge celebrities!

Jessica, as well as being knowledgeable about the beauty of Japanese convenience stores, is also a Harry Potter fan herself, and told the audience her favourite characters are Hermione and Professor McGonagall. Punico was thrilled when Jessica told them she’d once dressed up as Professor McGonagall when she was in the fourth grade.

Also present at the fan event was Mamoru Miyano, who voices Newt in the Japanese dub. He embraced the pair warmly as he took to the stage.

The two Newts also performed the “Manitcore Dance”, to the delight of the crowd gathered.

Miyano then presented Eddie and Jessica with their very own happi festival coats, which is the standard when foreign celebrities come to Japan for events.

“I now have a collection of happi coats,” Eddie joked.

▼ Miyano (far right) presented the pair with their very own happi.

▼ The happi were emblazoned with ファンタビ (Fantabi or Fantastic Beasts) on the left, and the actor’s name on the right.

After the interview was done, the three stars took selfies with the crowd.

Punico was certainly a fan of Fantastic Beasts before, but attending this event and seeing the stars and their friendly, cheerful personalities made her even more of a fan. She really appreciated the fact that Eddie and Jessica made it to Japan despite their busy promotional schedules. They seemed to truly enjoy interacting with their fans, and the event was a happy one from start to finish.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released in theatres in Japan on April 8.

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