Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald introduces us to a very different version of Albus Dumbledore than we're used to seeing on the big screen. Jude Law plays a much younger and less grandfatherly character. Jude Law had previously stated that he listened to everything J.K. Rowling had to tell him about the character, but he's now revealed a bit from those conversations, including why it is that Dumbledore loves Newt Scamander. It seems that the accomplished wizard appreciates Newt's love of beasts, as Dumbledore views himself as one of them. According to Law...
This is something Jo Rowling said to me. The reason he loves Newt is that Newt loves beasts and I think he thinks he's a beast. I think he thinks he's dark, that he's seen and done things that he wishes he hadn't and he's constantly pulling himself back on the right moral side.
While the life of Albus Dumbledore is pretty well understood to devotees of the books, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the first time that we've seen the younger version of the character on the screen. As a younger man, Dumbledore very nearly took a much darker path, the same one that his friend Gellert Grindelwald did eventually take. Jude Law says that, in the eyes of screenwriter J.K. Rowling, Dumbledore is still very much battling with this darker side of himself, and thus sees himself at least as having the potential to become a beast.
And this is why Dumbledore feels a connection to Newt Scamander. Newt sees magical beasts as largely misunderstood creatures. He sees the light in them, rather than the darkness. It seems Dumbledore appreciates this perspective. If Newt can see the good in beasts, he can potentially see the good in Dumbledore, which may help the wizard stay on the correct side of that moral line he's struggling with.
While Dumbledore is one of our heroes throughout the Harry Potter books, he's also incredibly manipulative. Poor Harry Potter only gets answers when the wizard decides it's time for him to get them. We see some of that same nature in The Crimes of Grindelwald where Dumbledore isn't able to take an active hand in events, but he's sure to nudge the players into the direction he believes they need to go.
Jude Law's comments came as part of an interview with Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films. You check out more of Law's comments about Dumbledore and Newt in the video below.
You can check out even more of Evanna Lynch's interviews with the cast of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald here. The film is now available in Digital HD and will be released on Blu-ray March 12.
