Mads Mikkelsen Wishes He Spoke To Johnny Depp About Taking Over ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Role

Mads Mikkelsen wishes he spoke to Johnny Depp about replacing him in “Fantastic Beasts 3”.

Depp was forced out of the franchise after losing his libel suit against British tabloid, The Sun which referred to him as a “wife beater” in a story referencing abuse allegations from his ex-wife Amber Heard.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the “Hannibal” actor revealed, “I mean, obviously, they were going to do the film, and obviously he was not involved anymore,” Mikkelsen said of Depp. “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.”

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“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,” he continued.

Mikkelsen will step into the role of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the third installment of the “Harry Potter” spin-off franchise, and plans to make it his own. “I didn’t want to copy what Johnny had done. I think he’s a masterful actor, so copying him would’ve been creative suicide,” he shared.

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“I had to figure out something that was definitely my own, and yet also act as a bridge to what he had done. My take is different, and the look is a little different, but we’ll have to wait for the film’s release [next year] to find out.”