The role which Johnny Depp will assume in the forthcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them sequel has been revealed. Depp will play the character of Gellert Grindelwald – essentially the Voldemort of the ‘Beasts’ series. The sequel will be released in 2018.
Producer David Heyman spoke with The Leaky Cauldron about Depp already filming scenes for the huge franchise. “We filmed early. I was amazed. It was completely bonkers. I was convinced it [would be leaked] you can keep very few secrets nowadays, especially something like that! When he came to Leavesden and we filmed for two days…and it didn’t come out. That’s mad.”
Director David Yates spoke about why they cast Depp to the same outlet too.
“The whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, ‘Who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’
“In this business, it’s a weird old business. You’re brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent. 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.”
Shooting on Fantastic Beasts 2 is expected to begin in the new year. It is one of four sequels planned for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, which is released later this month.
