Why Fantastic Beasts 3 Doesn't Address Johnny Depp Grindelwald Recast
Mads Mikkelsen explains why Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore doesn't address the Johnny Depp Grindelwald recasting. The new movie from director David Yates is the third in the ongoing Fantastic Beasts franchise, itself a spinoff-prequel to the globally popular Harry Potter film series. After experiencing some pandemic-related delays to production, Fantastic Beasts 3 is finally set to hit US theaters tomorrow, April 15.
The transition from Harry Potter to Fantastic Beasts has not been a particularly smooth one, and the spinoff franchise has found itself mired in controversy. One example has been the situation surrounding Depp's casting as Gellert Grindelwald, the series' main villain, which was objectionable to many due to the domestic violence allegations made against him by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. When Depp, who disputes the accusations, lost a libel case against News Group Newspapers Ltd., the studio asked him to step down from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and replaced him with Mikkelsen.
Related: Why Johnny Depp Was Recast As Grindelwald In Fantastic Beasts 3
Now, in a profile for THR, Mikkelsen explains why Fantastic Beasts 3 does nothing to address the casting change. The actor notes that this was an intentional choice on the part of the filmmakers, saying that practically everyone knows the real-world reason for Depp's ousting. Mikkelsen hopes that all it takes for viewers to adjust to the change is a single scene, after which his version of Grindelwald will just be accepted. Check out his full quote below:
That was very deliberate. Everybody knows why [the actors changed]. The entire world knows why. It would almost be like an Easter egg to reality to point out we swapped actors.
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