The 56-year-old Danish actor, who is known for his roles in the James Bond film Casino Royale and the NBC series Hannibal, replaced Depp, 59, as Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival, as reported by Deadline, Mikkelsen described Depp’s take on the role as “very intimidating” and spoke about the reason for Depp’s exit from the franchise – his defamation case against Heard. He said: “So obviously now the course has changed – he won the trial, the court [case] – so let’s see if he comes back. It can. “I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s an amazing actor, I think he did a fantastic job. “Having said that, I couldn’t duplicate it. There was no way I could copy that, because it’s so him. It would be creative suicide. So we had to come up with something else, something that was mine, and build a bridge between him and me. So, yeah, it was scary. “His fans were very, very sweet, but they were also very stubborn. I didn’t interact with them much, but I could understand why they were heartbroken.” Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Photo: Landmark Media/Alamy Depp beat Heard, 36, in a court battle in Fairfax County, Virginia, earlier this year. The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing his ex-partner over a 2018 article she wrote for the Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser. The actor’s representatives said he lost job opportunities and high-profile roles, including being dropped from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, following the allegations. Jurors found in his favor after the six-week trial. Depp is now planning to direct his first feature film in 25 years. Modi will tell the story of the Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani. He will co-produce the film with Al Pacino.
