Last week, news broke that Johnny Depp had joined the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them films, fans had plenty to say about the casting. Some fans were hesitant to accept the iconic actor; Others were interested to learn just who Depp would be playing in the film. Soon after his involvement was confirmed, Potterheads began speculating that Depp was cast as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts.
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And, now, fans have gotten alleged confirmation of the rumor from director David Yates and producer David Heyman.
The Leaky Cauldron sat down with the crew members for a round table interview and learned that Depp were surprised that Depp’s work as Grindelwald hadn’t been outed sooner.
“We filmed early,” they explained before Heyman added, “I was amazed.”
“It was completely bonkers. I was convinced it [would be leaked] you can keep very few secrets nowadays, especially something like that! When he came to Leavesden and we filmed for two days…and it didn’t come out. That’s mad.”
Yates then explained their reasoning for Depp’s casting. “The whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, ‘who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’ In this business, it’s a weird old business. You’re brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent.”
“Johnny Depp is a real artist. He’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character. He’s fearless; he’s imaginative; he’s ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don’t care if he’s famous or not famous. We just know he’s interesting.”
Heyman also chimed in on the actor’s work as the dark wizard. He said, “Grindelwald is an iconic character, so it was important to have someone who had that weight. There’s a reason why he has that weight. It’s because, you know, he’s a fine actor who makes unexpected choices.”
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The duo also confirmed that the sequel to Fantastic Beasts would focus more intently on Grindelwald’s growing revolution and less on the franchise’s magical creatures. Yates told the site that, ” the beasts feature slightly less in the second film, and Grindelwald takes more of a foreground. Currently. But we love the beasts so much.”
So, what do you think about this latest revelation? Do you think Yates and Heyman are playing with fans or will Fantastic Beasts really see Johnny Depp play the darkest wizard of all-time?
