‘It Was Intimidating’: Mads Mikkelsen On Replacing Johnny Depp In ‘Fantastic Beasts’ And Why The Disgraced Actor ‘Might’ Come Back — Sarajevo
15.08.2022 - 19:33
/ deadline.com
Although the Danish star arrived at the Sarajevo Film Festival to receive his Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for his outstanding contribution to the art of film, many of the crowd who attended the event’s morning “Coffee With…” event on Monday seemed, rather worryingly, to be fans of Mads Mikkelsen’s TV work, notably HBO’s cannibal drama Hannibal. Nevertheless, the actor took their questions in his stride, as part of a wide-ranging conversation that embraced his early career in Danish indie cinema, his move to the U.S. and the M.C.U., his affection for Pink Floyd, and his love of football. “I always wanted to make money out of sports,” he quipped. “It never happened.”
Speaking of his most recent release, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, in which he played Gellert Grindelwald, Mikkelsen admitted he’d had concerns about replacing Johnny Depp, who withdrew from the franchise due to his much-publicized court case with ex-wife Amber Heard. He also hinted at Depp’s possible return.
“It was very intimidating,” said Mikkelsen. “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. 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.”
Thinking back to his early days, after making his debut