Mads Mikkelsen raised the possibility of Johnny Depp’s return to the Fantastic Beasts saga in light of his recent defamation trial victory over Amber Heard.
Mikkelsen replaced Depp as Gellert Grindelwald for the third instalment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, after Depp resigned at the request of studio Warner Bros last year.
Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Monday, Mikkelsen said “it was very intimidating” stepping into Depp’s shoes for the role.
“Obviously, well, now the course has changed – he won the suit, the court [case] – so let’s see if he comes back. He might. I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s an amazing actor, I think he did a fantastic job.
He continued: “Having said that, I could not copy it. There’s there was no way I could just copy it, because it’s so much 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, yes, it was intimidating. His fans were very, very sweet, but they were also very stubborn. I didn’t interact too much with them, but I could understand why they had their hearts broken.”
The Independent has contacted Warner Bros for comment.
A fourth Fantastic Beasts movie has not yet been announced by the production company.
Mikkelsen’s turn in the third Beasts film was well received by critics, who argued that the Danish actor gave a superior performance to Depp, however, Mikkelsen previously said taking over was “chaotic”.
In June, a jury in Virginia, USA, shared their verdicts, finding that Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts.
She was demanded to award him $10.35m (£8.5m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4.1m) in punitive damages. Heard was found to have a partial win in her case and was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages.
Heard has since appealed the $10.35m (£8.5m) verdict made against her, while Depp moved to overturn the defamation award that she received.
