From circus to big screen, Montrealer lands role in J. K. Rowling’s ‘Fantastic Beasts’

“Fantastic Beasts” is the biggest production Soroczynski has been involved in, even if he has what he calls a “small role” — a police officer named Stebbins. (Photo: @bartsoroczynski/Instagram)

MONTREAL — Until recently, Bart Soroczynski was never that interested in the world of Harry Potter created by author J.K. Rowling.

“I had seen a few Harry Potter (films),” he says, “but it was so far back in my memory that I had to read a lot to prepare.”

What he was preparing for was his role in the film “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the Harry Potter prequel with a screenplay by Rowling that opened in theatres Friday.

The Montrealer arrived in Canada from Poland as a small child in the early 1980s. His father Krzysztof was a circus performer who co-founded a circus school in Montreal’s Verdun neighbourhood, and Soroczynski at first followed in his footsteps.

He studied at his father’s school throughout his childhood and teen years and later attended the National Circus School in Montreal.

He toured with Montreal’s Cirque Eloize for five years but also developed a taste for acting, which led to him performing on stage in the United Kingdom and France and in film.

“Fantastic Beasts” is the biggest production Soroczynski has been involved in, even if he has what he calls a “small role” — a police officer named Stebbins.

Stebbins attended Hogwarts and works for the Ministry of Magic. In the film, the officer’s task is to spy on a principal character played by Eddie Redmayne.

Speaking to The Canadian Press from London, Soroczynski said he immersed himself in Harry Potter’s universe to prepare for the role.

“My greatest pleasure was talking to young adults who know the world of Harry Potter,” he said. “I was lucky to meet walking Harry Potter encyclopedias, people who know that world by heart.”

The experience included passionate debates with Potter fans in London pubs. “It’s fascinating what that woman has built,” he said, referring to Rowling.

He said it was educational to act alongside Redmayne, whom he calls a true professional.

The British actor’s professionalism manifested itself on Soroczynski’s first day on the set when his character was keeping an eye on Redmayne’s character in a bar.

“All I had to do that day was to hide behind a newspaper,” he recalled. “Then at the end of the day, they turned the cameras on me to reveal me behind the newspaper.”

Redmayne, who had finished his scenes for the day, asked whether he wanted him to stay in the same spot to help him with his performance.

“That surprised me, because he came over on his own,” he said. “Nobody told him to do that, but as a professional, being conscious of where I was in the scene, even if I didn’t have any dialogue, he asked me if he should stay in place. It was an eye-opener.”

Soroczynski doesn’t know whether he will be called upon to act in future instalments of “Fantastic Beasts,” but he hopes so.

He also hopes to return to work in Quebec.

“Playing a Quebec character would be huge. It’s another dream,” he said. “I come from there. I speak the language. It would be nice to play a character from the place I come from.”