Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has finally spoken about the Fantastic Beasts recasting, five years after he was asked to resign from the franchise by Warner Bros.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 62, played Gellert Grindelwald in the series’ first two films, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
Depp was supposed to reprise his role as Grindelwald in the franchise’s final film, The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).
However, the actor was asked to resign in November 2020 as a result of his libel battle with News Group Newspapers over allegations of domestic abuse, which were made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Depp has now told The Telegraph that he felt “shunned, dumped, [and] cancelled” in the aftermath of the trial.
“It literally stopped in a millisecond,” Depp said. “Like, while I was doing the movie. They said we’d like you to resign. But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire”.
He added: “There’s far too many of me to kill. If you think you can hurt me more than I’ve already been hurt you’re gravely mistaken.”
Jurors found in June 2022 that Heard had defamed Depp in three statements made in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed and awarded him more than $10m in damages. As part of Heard’s counter-suit, they also found that a lawyer for Depp defamed Heard in one of three statements highlighted in the filing. Heard was awarded $2m in damages.
The actor commented on Instagram that he would “respect and agree to that request”.
Having already filmed a scene for the third Fantastic Beasts film, Depp was replaced by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, known for his roles in Casino Royale (2006) and Hannibal (2013-2015).
Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2022, Mikkelsen said “it was very intimidating” stepping into Depp’s shoes for the role.
“Obviously, well, now the course has changed – he won the suit, the court [case] – so let’s see if he comes back. He might. I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s an amazing actor, I think he did a fantastic job.
He continued: “Having said that, I could not copy it. There’s there was no way I could just copy it, because it’s so much him. It would be creative suicide. So, we had to come up with something else, something that was mine, and build a bridge between him and me.
“So, yes, it was intimidating. His fans were very, very sweet, but they were also very stubborn. I didn’t interact too much with them, but I could understand why they had their hearts broken.”
Depp recently made his first directorial appearance in 20 years on Modìgliani: Three Days on the Wing of Madness.
The film, which follows the Italian artist’s life during the First World War, is set to be released in cinemas on Friday (11 July).
