Eddie Redmayne shouted 'I'm s----ing myself!' on 'scary' Harry Potter ride ahead of reprising role as Newt in new theme park

Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne has revealed a particularly comical incident he had with his kids while riding a separate Harry Potter attraction, ahead of reprising his role as Newt Scamander for new scenes that Entertainment Weekly exclusively reported were filmed for inclusion in a new Harry Potter-themed land heading to the upcoming Universal Epic Universe theme park in 2025.

The 42-year-old Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise star shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he and his children recently enjoyed a trip to an unspecified Universal park, where they experienced a slight (yet frightful) temporary stoppage aboard the indoor Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride that led to a "scary" moment while halted in front of an animated figure modeled after a Dementor.

“My son was obsessed with that and we did it once and then we did it again, and the second time, just as we were coming to the end, there was a hiccup in the ride, like the ride stopped for a second as I was kind of like this," Redmayne recalled, lifting out of his chair to demonstrate sitting on his back, “with a massive f---off Dementor here!"

Redmayne continued: “I had my 6-year-old son sitting next to me and I was like, ‘Are you okay?’ And he’s like, ‘Dad, I’m fine.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not! I’m s----ing myself!'"

The star also fondly remembered traveling through the Wizarding World themed area with his both of his children, including a portion where guests can purchase wands and use them at interactive points throughout the themed land.

"I was like, ‘Guys, I’ve got this. Your dad, it’s like the one thing I can do,’” he told host Jimmy Kimmel. “I can’t. You’re meant to do these things and extraordinary things happen, and my kids gave me a proper schooling in wand work, 10 years too late.”

He said that while his kids took to choosing a wand like naturals, he had some more specific requests for a wand of his own, given that he starred in the Fantastic Beasts films.

“When I first entered the Wizarding World, they kind of chat to you about what you want your wand to look like, and I was like, ‘My character, he’s out in nature, so maybe it’s just a sort of twig,’” he said. “And as I saw in the merchandise thing in Ollivander’s [wand shop], all the different wands, with the bedazzled ones and the gold ones, and there was my twig, I realized that I’d made an elementary error."

Redmayne's wand work must've improved significantly, as EW previously reported that he will return as Newt in the fourth Universal Orlando Resort park, Epic Universe, when it opens at the top of next year. Redmayne's scenes are part of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic land, which is set between Paris and London in a timeline that fuses both the main Harry Potter films with the narrative of Fantastic Beasts.

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Actress Imelda Staunton, who portrayed Dolores Umbridge in the main film series, will also return as the character in scenes filmed for Epic Universe's new Battle at the Ministry ride that takes guests through the British Ministry of Magic for Umbridge's trial.

Universal Epic Universe opens May 22, 2025, with Redmayne's reprisal of Newt Scamander set to debut among the park's five themed areas, also including themed lands based on Super Nintendo characters (including a Donkey Kong mine cart roller coaster that simulates jumping off the track), How to Train Your Dragon, astrological and mythological lore, and classic Universal Monsters like Dracula, Gill-man, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster.

Watch the actor discuss his scary incident on another Harry Potter ride in the video above.