The massive reveal of Gellert Grindelwald at the end of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ was a ton of fun and now, producer, David Heyman is sharing what we can expect from the character in ‘Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald’. Johnny Depp is a divisive actor at the moment due to the drama swirling around him, but the way that Heyman describes his character makes it clear why they wanted the actor on board. It should be noted that he was cast before this all coming out and if you go strictly by what they want from the character, you can tell why the actor was selected.
We won’t go into if they should have kept him around or not, but as Heyman explains that the type of villain that Grindelwald will be, Depp would have been the obvious choice:
“A really scary one, because he has the power of persuasion. He’s very seductive. He can make people follow him because he is as persuasive as he is. He’s incredibly charismatic. He is wonderfully amoral. Or awfully amoral, depending on which way you look at it. Wonderful for a delicious villain. Awful, in terms of an individual. And he is a fundamentalist, or, he’s an absolutist. He sees only one path. He believes in superiority of wizard-kind over humankind. Muggles, you know, and makes a very persuasive case for that. Not one that I am prepared to follow. Not one I suspect you’re prepared to follow. But you can understand why some people do, and that’s really, really scary.”
The description of how they want Grindelwald to translate onto the big screen is precisely the kind of performance Depp is known to give. Had his personal life not gone to hell, his casting would be widely praised as a perfect fit. Unfortunately for the franchise, it will always now have this shadow cast over it as they’ll be unlikely to make Grindelwald a less important character in the next three installments.
Do you agree that Depp is perfect for being able to play someone who is “incredibly charismatic” and “can make people follow him because he is as persuasive as he is”? Share your thoughts on how Depp can bring this villain to life in the comments below!
‘Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ will be magically appearing in theaters on November 16th, 2018!
Source: Collider
