Eddie Redmayne on His New Life as a Dad of Two: It's 'About Trying to Keep the Children Alive'

Eddie Redmayne is loving life as a father of two — no matter the lack of sleep involved.

The Oscar winner, 36, who reprises his role as wizard Newt Scamander in this month’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, says life for him and wife Hannah is “really wonderful at the moment.”

“I have two little children— Iris is now 2 and a half and Luke is 8 months. So honestly, life is about trying to keep the children alive,” he tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “But they’re wonderful.”

Redmayne also says daughter Iris is enjoying her big sister role.

“She’s fantastic. There are occasional moments when Hannah and I are both out of the room and we get a glimpse of Iris entertaining Luke,” he says. “No one makes him laugh as much as she does. You can’t quite believe it. Like, these humans are interacting [by themselves], so that’s been pretty special.”

Iris may also have unknowingly influenced the movements of some cute new creatures in her father’s latest film, which is a sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

For much more on Eddie Redmayne and The Crimes of Grindewald, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

“There was a moment last year when my family — my brother’s obsessed with getting dressed up at Christmas, or New Year actually, and so he decided that Fantastic Beasts was going to be the dress code. So we got Iris dressed up as a Niffler — then a baby Niffler — and the way she behaved as a Niffler was very inspiring in the next film when we actually had the baby Nifflers. She’s running around, causing chaos, and so, I felt like I got really method on the baby Nifflers.”

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens in theaters Nov. 16.