When it was announced last week that Johnny Depp would be joining the cast of the upcoming ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ sequel, many rumors began to swirl about what role he would play. The most prominent one was that the veteran actor would be playing Gellert Grindelwald, the legendary dark wizard who wreaked havoc with the Elder Wand until Albus Dumbledore put a stop to him. And on to of that, reports sad that Depp would cameo in the first film, which hits theaters later this month. Now it seems like we have confirmation of this rumor… Possibly… I think…
During a recent interview with The Leaky Cauldron, director David Yates and producer David Heyman seemingly confirmed the rumors and went on to talk about Depp being an interesting choice to play Grindelwald. Before Heyman expressed that Depp had the “weight” to carry an iconic character like this by making unexpected choices, Yates started by calling the actor “a real artist”:
“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.”
The pair also went on to share even more details about ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and it’s subsequent sequels. First, they shared that they shot Depp’s cameo early on in production and they were surprised that it didn’t leak. Then, they mentioned that the U.K. and Paris will be the primary locations of the second film. Finally, the pair teased that Ezra Miller’s Credence would become “quite pivotal” and “crucial” as the story progresses. But speaking of Miller, the star had some interesting things to say in a separate interview. He made some comments that might indicate that Depp isn’t Grindelwald at all.
This next part may be considered a MAJOR SPOILER, so proceed with caution.
While speaking to Mugglenet about his latest role, Miller fields a question about Colin Farrell’s Percival Graves being Grindelwald because his character Credence and Graves have a close relationship in the movie. It’s a very interesting notion that I haven’t seen anyone else talk about thus far, but an even more telling indication that this could be true is that the actor answers a follow up question that may or may not be tongue in cheek. Here’s the whole section of the conversation:
Mugglenet: We were talking about this before just amongst ourselves, is Grindelwald Graves the entire movie or is there a point where he becomes him?
Ezra Miller: That is a fascinating question. I do not know. I do not know that. It was not scripted. If there is a transitional point we were never told about it but that does not mean that it did not happen because we were not told about a lot of things. [laughs]
MN: Do you know where the real graves is? I know you probably cannot tell us if you know but do you know where he is?
EM: No but if this is a Barty Crouch Junior situation he is probably at the bottom of one of those trunks.
[Everyone laughs]
EM: [laughs] Poor guy! Probably skinny, looking pretty gaunt. Having a rough time, somewhere.
That’s one of the most difficult things about written interviews. You can’t really pick up the inflection of someone’s voice to really gauge how they’re saying something. But obviously there’s something in the movie that points to Graves and Grindelwald being connected somehow since the outlet asked that question. Is it possible that David Yates and David Heyman were trying to swerve everyone? Or what if somehow both Depp and Farrell are playing Grindelwald, but in different forms? I have a hard time believing that theory, but why else would both of these actors be linked to the one character? We’ll find out the answer in just ten days, but until then, let us know what you think about this whole Grindelwald situation. Who do you think will end up playing the nefarious dark wizard? Let us know in the comments below.
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, David Chester, Samantha Morton, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, and Colin Farrell breaks out of it’s cage on November 18, 2016.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
