Katherine Waterston Was Just Cast in the ‘Harry Potter’ Spin-Off: Here’s How You Know Her

J.K. Rowling and director David Yates are teaming up again to delve into the magical wizarding world with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. And after casting Eddie Redmayne in the lead role earlier this month, Warner Bros. has found at least one of the female leads in Katherine Waterston.

According to Variety, Waterston is set to play “the pivotal role of Tina, short for Porpentina, a witch who — unlike the beloved characters from Rowling’s Harry Potter books — works her magic in the U.S. She meets magizoologist Newt Scamander (Redmayne) when he stops in New York City on his travels to find and document magical creatures.”

Waterston is becoming something of a hot property all of a sudden, on the heels of her featured (and acclaimed) performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice last year. She’ll be a presence in awards season this year as well (or so Universal hopes) in Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs, in which she’s set to play Chrisann Brennan, mother of Jobs’ first child.

Before Inherent Vice, though, Waterston’s most prominent role was on Boardwalk Empire, where she played Richard Harrow’s sister. At the beginning of Season Four, Harrow returns to his family home in Wisconsin, reuniting with his sister, but unable to escape his violent life. It was a memorable arc, and Waterston certainly made an impression. And now she gets to be the American Hermione Granger! Or so we’ll be left to assume until the movie comes out.

Like what you see? Follow Decider on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation, and sign up for our email newsletters to be the first to know about streaming movies and TV news!