With the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore right around the corner, Jessica Williams joined us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to recap her journey from her very first acting gigs to becoming a Daily Show correspondent to joining the Wizarding World as Professor Eulalie Hicks.
In film three of the Fantastic Beasts series, Mads Mikkelsen’s Gellert Grindelwald is determined to seize control of the wizarding world. In an effort to stop him, Jude Law’s Professor Albus Dumbledore assembles a team to take him down. That team includes Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), his brother Theseus (Callum Turner), Newt’s assistant Bunty Broadacre (Victoria Yeates), Leta Lestrange’s half-brother Yusuf (William Nadylam), No-Maj Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), and Williams’ Lally, a charms professor at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Secrets of Dumbledore marks Hicks’ first time being a main play in a big screen mission, but you might remember catching a glimpse of her via a cameo appearance in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Via her portrait in a book, Lally urges Nicolas Flamel (Brontis Jodorowsky) to help Newt and the team in their battle against Grindelwald.
Was Williams told that Lally was destined for a bigger role when she signed on for that cameo? Here’s what she said:
“I’d always known that my character was supposed to be throughout the rest of the Fantastic Beasts films … I play this character named Eulalie Hicks. She is a charms professor at Ilvermorny, which is the North American wizarding school. And I knew that in Crimes of Grindelwald she makes a brief appearance, but then in 3, 4 and 5, she’s quite formidable and becomes a huge part of the story.”
Lally truly is a formidable force in The Secrets of Dumbledore. She exudes confidence and determination every step of the way. Even the way she carries herself in battle suggests significant tenacity and strength, which won’t come as much of a surprise when you find out which tennis icons inspired Lally’s wand work. Williams explained:
“I’m so excited about my character. I think she’s really strong and really capable. She’s really good at defensive magic and she has some really cool, badass sequences in this movie that I’m so excited for everyone to see. I modeled a lot of her wand work after Serena and Venus Williams. I like that she does this really cool, strong magic like she really means it. Eulalie is really heart-driven and I think she’s really good at seeing at the heart of people, and I think Dumbledore recruits her because he knows that about her. And I think she’s somebody you can always depend on to do what's good and what’s right.”
If you’re looking for more on Williams’ journey in film and television and for additional information on Lally, be sure to check out her episode of Collider Ladies Night at the top of this article or listen to the interview uncut in podcast form below: