Mad Mikkelsen has revealed that he wished that he had had the opportunity to talk to Johnny Depp before Mikkelsen took over the role of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald from Depp in the upcoming third Fantastic Beasts film.
Depp was set to reprise his role as the main villain in the Harry Potter prequel spinoff film series when he lost the job following a United Kingdom court ruling that a British newspaper that had criticized Depp's casting in the second film by referring to the actor as a "wife beater" was not guilty of libel and that the description of Depp as a "wife beater" was "substantially true." Depp has since also lost his appeal of the court decision.
Mikkelsen discussed the topic in The Sunday Times and explained, "I mean, obviously, they were going to do the film, and obviously he was not involved any more. But I didn't have a dog in that fight. And I don't know what happened [in his private life], and I don't know if it was fair, him losing the job, but I just knew that the show was going on, and I would've loved to have talked to him about it if I had the chance, but I just don't know him in that sense."
He added, "But they called me and they were obviously in a hurry, and I loved the script and so said yes. And I know it was controversial for many people, but that's just the way it plays out once in a while."
It is interesting that Mikkelsen is fairly vague about why he would have wanted to discuss the role with Depp, as Mikkelsen's comments certainly appear to suggest that he thinks it is clear that the film was going to proceed without Depp no matter what, so it does not appear as though Mikkelsen was prepared to pass on the job offer had Depp asked him to do so, so it is a bit unclear what he wanted to actually say to Depp about the role.
Directed by David Yates and written by J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, Fantastic Beasts 3 stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller, Mads Mikkelsen and Jude Law. The film arrives in theaters July 15, 2022.
Source: EW.com