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Johnny Deppis opening up about his highly-anticipated new role as the villain Grindelwald in the upcomingFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
The actor spoke toEntertainment Weeklyin an interview published on Thursday in which he reveals he had a certain amount of freedom in making the dark wizard his own.
“I had this image in my head of the guy,” he said. “The beauty ofJ.K. [Rowling]and of [director David] Yates is they put trust in me to a degree. J.K. and I had some really nice talks and I had some ideas andshe just said, ‘I can’t wait to see what you do with him.’”
“It was beautifully left as this open gift,” he added.
Rowling released a statement late last year, saying that “Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.”
Of the controversy, Depp said he “felt bad” that the author had to step in.
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“But ultimately, there is real controversy,” he added. “The fact remains I was falsely accused, which is why I’m suing theSunnewspaper for defamation for repeating false accusations.”
“J.K. has seen the evidence and therefore knows I was falsely accused, and that’s whyshe publicly supported me,” he said. “She doesn’t take things lightly. She would not stand up if she didn’t know the truth. So that’s really it.”
An attorney for Depp tells PEOPLE in a statement, “Were Ms. Heard’s faked abuse claims presented yet again at a real #metoo event this week a ‘confidential arbitration’? Ms. Heard (and lately her new attorney) have been peddling easily disproven fake abuse claims for over 2 years in public, and now that real evidence is coming, exhibit a sudden and predictable desire for confidentiality.”
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An attorney for the actor claimed “evidence” in the case against the newspaper will be presented in court next month, according toEW.
Depp hasvehemently deniedthe abuse allegations throughout the contentious divorce, calling the claims “salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation, and lies.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldopens Nov. 16.
source: people.com
