Mads Mikkelsen Talks About Replacing Johnny Depp In Secrets Of Dumbledore

Actor Mads Mikkelsen has further discussed the major Fantastic Beasts casting change that saw the actor step in to replace Johnny Depp as the evil wizard Grindelwald after the embattled Depp dropped out.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Mikkelsen recalled that it was "quite chaotic" when it was all going down. Depp dropped out of the third movie, The Secrets of Dumbledore, amid his messy and controversial legal battle with Amber Heard. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling defended Depp but the decision was ultimately made to recast the role, and Mikkelsen landed the part.

In taking over for Depp, Mikkelsen said he made sure to not "copy" what Depp was doing with the character but instead put his own spin on it while retaining some elements of the original.

"You don't want to copy anything [Depp was] doing--that would be creative suicide," Mikkelsen said. "Even if [a role has] been done to perfection, you want to make it your own. But you still have to build some sort of bridge between what came before."

Depp was reportedly paid an eight-figure sum for the one scene he filmed for The Secrets of Dumbledore before he dropped out.

Mikkelsen's version of Grindelwald looks physically different from Depp's, with Depp's platinum hair and albino right eye dialed back. Director David Yates said he asked Mikkelsen to "explore a version of Grindelwald that suited his strengths as an actor." This, in turn, meant that it would be a departure from how Depp played the role.

Mikkelsen also confirms that The Secrets of Dumbledore deliberately avoids any story sequences that attempt to explain why a different actor is now playing Grindelwald. "Everybody knows why [the actors changed]. The entire world knows why. It would almost be like an Easter egg to reality to point out we swapped actors. Hopefully we drag them in with the first scene and from there they accept this world," he said.

Mikkelsen was not able to speak with Depp at all about the change, and he said that's too bad because it would have been good to "clean the room" with the actor. Mikkelsen also did not get to speak with Rowling, which he remarked was also a missed opportunity because he wanted to hear from Rowling about why Grindelwald is the way he is and why he hates non-wizards so much. Without being able to speak to Rowling, Mikkelsen said he came up with his own backstory where something happened to Grindelwald when he was a child that explains why he carries around so much hate.

The actor went on to say that he's hopeful to play Grindelwald again in the next Fantastic Beasts movie, but whether or not it gets made is unclear at this stage. An anonymous executive told THR that WB's plan for five Fantastic Beasts movies was overly ambitious. Producer Tim Lewis told the site, "We hope what we made with this film will keep [the franchise] continuing."

Rowling has been and continues to be in the news for her controversial opinions on trans rights.

The Secrets of Dumbledore opens in US theaters on April 15. In addition to Mikkelsen, the film stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, and Katherine Waterston. Another star, Ezra Miller, was recently arrested for disorderly conduct and harassment.