Eddie Redmayne is known for his commitment to his roles, and now he’s gone one step further by injuring himself in a way that wizards and witches in the Harry Potter universe must be familiar with. Yup, he’s got “Wand Shoulder Strain.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Newt Scamander actor revealed that, due to what he describes as “hardcore wand action,” he’s damaged his rotator cuff during filming of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
I’m sure the actors of any number of fantasy films and TV shows must be nodding in sympathy right now. After all, they’re regularly expected to cloak themselves in chainmail and wave around giant metal swords while Redmayne has to contend with a bohemian suit and a tiny wooden stick. If anything, this certainly indicates that the action in the sequel will be cranked up a bit, probably due to the arrival of the Harry Potter Hitler analogue, Gellert Grindelwald.
Grindelwald should have a particular bone to pick with Scamander, too, given that he foiled his nefarious plans in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, though any chances of him ducking out of the battle in favor of more combat-focused wizards seems destined to fail, as the synopsis for the film explains that “Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander.”
Of course, Redmayne’s sore shoulder isn’t the only drama going on backstage on Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as there’s still the little matter of The Crimes of Johnny Depp, with fans wanting to see him booted off the production after he was accused of domestic violence against his ex-wife Amber Heard. I guess we’ll know more as the film moves into post-production and the trailers start showing up, but let’s hope it transcends the off-screen drama and ends up being just as enjoyable as its predecessor was.
