Johnny Depp has spoken candidly about his abrupt exit from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, where he played the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Depp revealed that his removal in November 2020 felt less like a resignation and more like an enforced retirement. "It literally stopped in a millisecond," he said. "They said, ‘We’d like you to resign.’ But what was really in my head was—they wanted me to retire.”
Depp was asked to leave the franchise just days after losing a UK libel case against The Sun, which had called him a “wife beater” amid allegations from ex-wife Amber Heard. The court ruled the paper’s claims were “substantially true,” though Depp continued to deny all allegations. He had reportedly filmed only one scene for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore when Warner Bros asked for his resignation. Mads Mikkelsen was later cast in his place.
Reflecting on the controversy and the public reaction, Depp said: “They’ve said all kinds of things out there in the world about me, and it doesn’t bother me. I’m not running for office.” He also added defiantly: “F*** you. There’s far too many of me to kill.”
Depp first appeared as Grindelwald in 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with a more prominent role in 2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald. His exit marked a turning point for the franchise, which eventually struggled at the box office and received mixed reviews. Warner Bros has since shifted focus, rebooting the Harry Potter universe as a TV series for HBO.
Despite the turbulence, Depp's portrayal of Grindelwald remains available on streaming platforms and continues to spark debate among fans.
