Mads Mikkelsen recently spoke on how taking over for Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts was intimidating and how Depp could return.
In a recent conversation with Deadline, Mads Mikkelsen spoke on what it was like portraying Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts. He talked about the intimidation he felt from taking over the role from Depp as well as the trepidation he had due to the possibility of negative reactions from fans.
Mikkelsen also gave a small tease at the possibility of Depp returning to the role in light of his recent defamation trial win, although, that may still be in flux after Depp fans accidentally released a flood of potentially damning documents from the court case.
“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.”
Mikkelsen also spoke on the scale of movies set in the MCU and Harry Potter universe and how that differs in terms of acting and burnout when it comes to the small screen.
“The scale of those films is insane,” he said, “and it’s very interesting to work within that world. I would say that one single set-piece of a Marvel film has the same budget as an entire Danish film, so the sky’s the limit, right? I grew up watching those films, and, of course, it’s fantastic to be part of it. Now, only doing [blockbusters] might not be enough for me, so, luckily, I can luckily go back and forth. Having said that, acting in front of a green screen, fighting a giant scorpion that is not there, is real acting, you know? Sitting in a kitchen, having a dialogue with someone is more re-acting. You actually use your imagination when you work with a green screen—there’s a lot of acting in that.”
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