David Yates on Why Johnny Depp Was Cast as the Villain Grindelwald in FANTASTIC BEASTS Sequel
A whole new magical franchise for the Harry Potter universe is going to launch next week when Warner Bros. releases Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. That will be followed by four other films, and the next one will introduce a villainous dark wizard by the name of Grindelwald. It’s been confirmed that Johnny Depp will be playing this character.
I’m actually pretty excited to see Depp in the role, but a lot of fans seem like they’re tired of seeing Depp play these kinds of characters. There’s a reason why he was cast in the part, though, and director David Yates recently explained why the actor is perfect for it. During an interview with The Leaky Cauldron, he said:
“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.”
You really can’t argue with his points of Depp being fearless, imaginative, and ambitious. Depp is one hell of a wild actor, and producer David Heyman explained that Depp has the weight and boldness to bring Grindelwald to life on the big screen:
“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.”
It’ll definitely be interesting to see what Depp ends up doing with this character. We’ve seen Depp play villains in films such as Sweeney Todd and Black Mass, and you have to admit he was pretty awesome in those. Yates also talked about the Fantastic Beasts sequels and said that they won’t deal as much with magical creatures.
“Currently the beasts feature slightly less in the second film, and Grindelwald takes more of a foreground. Currently. But we love the beasts so much. There’s an amazing beast in the second movie–a Chinese beast, actually–that is featured. We’re exploring how we can get a couple more beasts into the second film, with [J.K. Rowling].”
I’m curious to see what this Chinese beast ends up being. My first thought is it could be some form of dragon, but we’ll have to wait and see. Regardless of the number of "beasts" that we’ll be seeing in these sequels, they are still sticking with the Fantastic Beasts title. Heyman explained how it will make sense:
“In a way the beasts are the creatures in the case. But it’s also the beast in each of us. […] I think beasts will continue to play a part in some score. It’s also so much a part of what Jo writes about. It’s the consequences of repression.”
I don’t care what the movie is called. I’m just excited that we get to spend more time in this magical world that J.K. Rowling started with Harry Potter.