Fantastic Beasts star Katherine Waterston has a trick up her sleeve to cope with new-found fame

Her role in the new Harry Potter spin-off is about to propel Katherine Waterston into the spotlight. But she says she won’t get swept away by fame — because she comes from a family of actors.

The actress, 36, spent 15 years struggling to get her big break before securing her part alongside Eddie Redmayne in the forthcoming JK Rowling adaptation Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

Born in London and raised in New York, she is the daughter of Oscar nominee Sam Waterston, best known for appearing in the TV series Law & Order, and model Lynn Louisa Woodruff. Waterston’s half-brother James is an actor, as are her sister Elisabeth and brother-in-law Louis Cancelmi.

In an interview with ES Magazine, she said: “If you have a famous parent you know that being famous doesn’t make you superior to anyone else.

"It just means people smile at you more. Everyone was fawning over my father but of course the way you look at your parents when you’re a teenager is often with a ... more critical eye.”

On the attention she is receiving for Fantastic Beasts, she said: “I spent 15 years as an actor never having to talk about myself and my relationship to my work. It’s a private, intimate thing and sharing it is hard.”

Waterston was on the verge of quitting acting before she landed a role opposite Joaquin Phoenix in 2014 movie Inherent Vice. At one point she was out of work for a year. Describing that time, she said: “The phone still rings, it’s just never with good news. Maybe they liked you, but didn’t want you for this part. If you’re stubborn you can make a meal out of a few crusts of bread.”

In Fantastic Beasts, set in New York in 1936, Waterston plays wand inspector Porpentina Goldstein. As well as studying the Harry Potter films, she and Redmayne took lessons from “wand coach” Alice Reynolds to prepare for their roles. She said: “When I first heard about that, I thought, ‘Are you kidding?’ Then I met Alice and was so grateful she was there.”

The pair also met Rowling on set. “Eddie and I were like moths to a flame, we just circled her staring,” she said. “We wanted to be near her but then didn’t know what to say. And she was kind and sweet enough to pretend something really uncomfortable and strange wasn’t happening.”

Read the full interview in ES magazine out today and Friday.

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