Hey everyone, Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter
Theory.
In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing the cast of the Fantastic Beasts films.
More specifically- we’re going to be discussing the direction of the Fantastic Beasts films
and how they were impacted by the substitution of Johnny Depp for Mads Mikkelsen in the role
of primary antagonist Gellert Grindelwald.
Now, when the Fantastic Beasts films first hit theatres, in spite of our awareness of
Grindelwald’s presence, we were all (at first) under the impression that the main
antagonist was going to be Percival Graves, played by Colin Farrell.
However, towards the end of the film it is revealed that Percival Graves was actually
Gellert Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp, in disguise.
With that said, we only witness Depp’s Grindelwald for a very brief period in this film.
After the first film had ended and Grindelwald’s true identity had been revealed, Depp ended
up reprising his role as Grindelwald in 2018s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
In this film, we got much more of a look in to Depp’s portrayal of the famous dark wizard,
and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
But then, disaster struck.
After an ongoing legal battle involving Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, the Sun newspaper and some
accusations of libel, Johnny Depp was DROPPED by Warner Bros- being asked to leave the Franchise
just as filming for the third installment had begun.
Warner Bros said the following:
“Johnny Depp will leave the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
We thank him for his work on the films so far.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is currently in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be
rescheduled.
The film will hit theaters in the summer of 2022.”
In the end, Johnny ended up losing the libel case against the Sun- but, convinced of his
innocence, did end up suing Amber Heard, the trial of which I’m sure you’ve seen plastered
all over YouTube in the last month.
On Nov 6 2020, Johnny had this to say of his departure from the Fantastic Beasts film franchise:
“In light of recent events, I would like to make the following short statement.
Firstly, I’d like to thank everybody who has gifted me with their support and loyalty.
Secondly, I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from
my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request.
Finally, I wish to say this.
The surreal judgement of the court in the U.K. will not change my fight to tell the
truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal.
My resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the allegations against me are
false.
My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time.
Thank you for reading,
Sincerely,
Johnny Depp.”
With Johnny Depp gone, there was a big hole in the franchise- the MAIN antagonist was
gone.
Without an antagonist- there’s no film to be had, and for a while it was looking like
the Fantastic Beasts films, between actor drama, a script rewrite, and lower than expected
box office performance, were going to be scrapped altogether.
However, as they say in show business, the show must go on.
With production of the third film already in motion, Warner Bros were left frantically
searching for his replacement, and right off the bat there were many names thrown in to
the mix.
However, one name came up more than any other across the internet - Mads Mikkelsen.
It didn’t take long for them to cast him in the role- as shortly after the dropping
of Depp he was officially announced as the new dark wizard.
But, despite his willingness to accept the role and take the torch from Johnny, Mikkelsen
has been nothing but respectful toward the former Fantastic Beasts star, releasing the
following statement on the matter:
"Job wise, it's obviously super interesting and nice," Mikkelsen said.
"It's also a shocker that it came after what happened, which is just super sad.
I wish both of them the best.
These are sad circumstances.
I hope both of them will be back in the saddle again really soon."
Additionally, during a discussion about Mikkelsen's new film, Another Round, the actor was asked
how his take on the villainous character will differ from Depp's.
"Well it's going to be me, so that's a difference," Mikkelsen quipped, then he got serious.
"No, this is the tricky part.
We're still working it out.
There has to be a bridge between what Johnny did and what I'm going to do.
And at the same time, I also have to make it my own.
But also we have to find a few links and some bridges so it doesn't completely detach from
what he's already masterfully achieved."
And, after much anticipation, just last month we were able to see Mads in action for the
very first time in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
So- now that we’ve seen both men play the dark wizard, one big question remains- who
did it better?
Johnny Depp or Mads Mikkelsen?
Let’s break down the pros and cons of each.
The first thing that I want to address in this matter is that some fans have been unable
to accept Mads as Grindelwald simply due to the issue of continuity.
How can we, the fans, be expected to forget that someone else played the role before?
And to those people I say this: What about Richard Harris being replaced by Michael Gambon
as Dumbledore, and what about Richard Bremner being replaced by Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort?
In addition to those two major ones, there were many other actor changes throughout the
Harry Potter films, and at the end of the day it didn’t damage the franchise.
People were still able to continue to enjoy the film series, and many people didn’t
even NOTICE.
Dumbledore and Voldemort are both MAIN characters, and the films were able to continue to thrive,
so there’s no reason that replacing Grindelwald should be the nail in the coffin for Fantastic
Beasts.
The next point that people made was that Johnny Depp had spent far too much time as Grindelwald
to be replaced, BUT in reality, with the release of the third film, the truth is that Mads
and Johnny have shared a similar amount of Grindelwald screen-time.
Yes, Johnny was in 2 films, but what we have to remember is that his role in the first
film was fairly minor- which meant limited screen time.
I don’t have the exact data on how many minutes each actor has played the notorious
dark wizard, but I’d be willing to bet that it’s a similar amount, which helps this
comparison.
With those two points out of the way, I want to dissect their performances based on a few
different pieces of criteria.
The criteria will be as follows:
1.
Look 2.
Vocals (accent, expression, inflection, style of speech, diction)
3.
Charisma 4.
Physicality (gestures, facial expressions, movement)
5.
Believability/Immersiveness &
6.
Accuracy with relation to Harry Potter canon
And with those points laid out, let’s dive in.
Kicking things off with ‘Look’ I’m going to have to give it to Mads Mikkelsen.
Johnny Depp’s white hair, heterochromia (different coloured eyes) and hair-style all
seemed a bit..dramatic, as if his character’s appearance had been developed for film.
The look of Mads was a lot more believable and, more importantly, consistent with the
rest of the world around him.
My biggest overarching criticism of Depp’s appearance was his spikey hair which just
doesn’t seem in line with the 20s or 30s.
Next, vocals.
In this department I’m going to have to give a point to both actors, as I think that
they were each able to nail different aspects of the vocal component.
In terms of accent, Mads, who is Danish, was far more believable, but in terms of expression,
I’d have to give it to Johnny.
Next, charisma.
Now, as any good actor knows, charisma is a vital component to an acting performance-
the ability to appeal to and enchant the viewer.
In this respect, I don’t think that either actor outperformed the other, they merely
‘enchanted’ the audience in their own way.
With that said, I found Mads to be more charismatic- and I think that the opinion on this is going
to vary heavily from person to person.
Up next we have physicality, looking at it from the perspective of gestures, movement,
and facial expression.
While I think that Mads was spot on with regards to his gesturing and facial expressions, it’s
hard to ignore Johnny’s ‘movement’ and his ability to capture the audience with his
physical presence.
I’ll give this one to Johnny.
Believability/Immersiveness.
Both men were believable Grindelwalds, but one issue that I had with Depp is that it’s
well..
Johnny Depp.
When I saw him I didn’t think ‘that’s Grindelwald’, I thought- oh it’s Johnny
Depp PLAYING Grindelwald.
I think that if his physical appearance had been more dialed in- matching what I EXPECTED
Grindelwald to look like, this problem would have been alleviated to some extent.
From a performance standpoint, however, Johnny did an excellent job.
Mads was slightly more believable for me.
Last up we have accuracy with relation to Canon.
According to Harry Potter lore, young Gellert Grindelwald had golden-blond hair and a ‘wild’
handsome face, middle-aged Grindelwald had light blond hair and a thin white moustache,
and older Grindelwald had grey hair with no moustache.
Johnny Depp plays Grindelwald from 1926-1928, making him 44-46 years old, and Mads Mikkelsen
plays Grindelwald in 1932, making him 50 years old.
Bearing this in mind, from a canon perspective, both portrayals are reasonably accurate.
Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald possesses the ‘light blond’ hair that he purportedly
sported in middle age (though it does look more WHITE), and the slightly older Grindelwald
played by Mads sports grey hair and no moustache.
Both physical descriptions are fairly consistent with canon.
The other important characteristic derived from canon is that Grindelwald is charming,
and in this respect, I think Mads did a slightly better job.
Not to say Johnny did a bad job.
In conclusion, I think that Mads did just a little bit better than Johnny in the role.
But that’s just my opinion.
Mads just better fits the picture of Grindelwald I always had in my head.
I’d give Mads an A- and Johnny a B+.
What do you guys think?
Who did YOU prefer and WHY?
Leave a comment down below
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live