Things don't always go to plan in Hollywood, and that is certainly true of the third film in the five-part Fantastic Beasts story. While dealing with a number of ups and downs, the production has been greatly overshadowed by the pandemic and the departure of Johnny Depp as its central villain, Grindlewald. Hannibal and Doctor Strange actor Mads Mikkelsen was soon after cast in the role vacated by Depp, and the decision was something of a controversial point among both fans of the franchise and of Depp. Now, Mikkelsen has spoken about his taking over of the Grindlewald role for Fantastic Beasts 3 and the unrest that surrounds it.

Mads Mikkelsen spoke to UK newspaper The Times, and was quick to accept that taking over the Grindelwald role from Depp was made all the more controversial for the furrow around the departure of Depp. He however said, that in the end, he was offered a role in a movie and as it looked like a good role, he couldn't just turn it down.

He told the paper about playing Grindelwald, "They called me and they were obviously in a hurry, and I loved the script and so said yes. And I know it was controversial for many people, but that's just the way it plays out once in a while."

Johnny Depp's firing from his Fantastic Beasts role came in the wake of a UK jury not taking the actor's side in a libel case against The Sun, who referred to him in an article as "a wife-beater." When the jury decision was made, Depp agreed to leave the role after requested to by Warner Bros. While Depp still had a huge amount of public support, it was always going to be a tough ride for whoever took over the role, and with Mikkelsen being brought in quite quickly, there were a few who instantly demanded for a boycott of the movie when it does come out.

Mikkelsen continued, "I mean, obviously, they were going to do the film, and obviously he was not involved any more. But I didn't have a dog in that fight. And I don't know what happened [in his private life], and I don't know if it was fair, him losing the job, but I just knew that the show was going on, and I would've loved to have talked to him about it if I had the chance, but I just don't know him in that sense."

While Johnny Depp had only reportedly filmed one scene for the movie, and replacing him was a relatively simple task in technical terms, this is not the first time Warner Bros. have seen calls for a boycott against one of their movies recently, as their decision to keep the other party in Depp's case, former wife Amber Heard, as part of the Aquaman 2 cast led to a similar uproar over that movie for the opposite reason to Fantastic Beasts 3. How it will all pan out for both films when they finally arrive on the big screen is still to be seen, but it is unlikely that either movie will see the huge boycott that fans of Depp would like. In an industry like this, an acting role is an acting role, and for Mads Mikkelsen, it is no different to any other job. This news originated at CinemaBlend. The topper art was created by BossLogic.