Johnny Depp is recalling the moment he was asked to step down from his role in the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts amid personal turmoil.
The actor sued The Sun newspaper for a 2018 story that described him as a “wife-beater” during his marriage to Amber Heard. After losing the lawsuit in 2020, Warner Bros. dropped him from the role of Gellert Grindelwald.
“It literally stopped in a millisecond, like, while I was doing the movie,” Depp said in an interview with The Telegraph. “They said we’d like you to resign. But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire.”
In a statement from November 2020, Warner Bros. released a statement announcing Depp would no longer be part of Fantastic Beasts, saying, “Johnny Depp will depart the Fantastic Beasts franchise. We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date. Fantastic Beasts 3 is currently in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be recast.”
Depp would follow up with his own statement, saying, “I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request.”
Recalling that moment he was asked to resign, Depp remembered saying, “F— you. 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.”
Depp appeared at the very end of 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, playing Grindelwald, who had been masquerading as Percival Graves throughout the first film, being portrayed by Colin Farrell. The Pirates of the Caribbean star would reprise the role in 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Mads Mikkelsen took over the role of Grindelwald for 2022’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which was the final film in the series.
Although more films were initially planned for the Fantastic Beasts franchise, the film series has been “parked” ever since.
Johnny Depp
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