Ezra Miller did not shy away from addressing the controversy surrounding Johnny Depp’s involvement in their new movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
“None of us were consulted,” the 26-year-old actor, who plays Credence Barebone, told Playboy in an interview published on Thursday, November 15. “None of us knew.”
The news of Depp’s prominent role as Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter prequel sparked backlash after the 55-year-old’s ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of physical and verbal abuse in 2016, which he denied. The outcry led the film’s writer and coproducer J.K. Rowling to defend the decision not to recast the role.
“When Johnny Depp was cast as Grindelwald, I thought he’d be wonderful in the role,” the author, 53, said in a statement posted on her website in December 2017. “However, around the time of filming his cameo in the first movie, stories had appeared in the press that deeply concerned me and everyone most closely involved in the franchise. … 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.”
Miller had a rather diplomatic response when asked by Playboy whether he was OK with starring alongside Depp in Fantastic Beasts.
“Look, I bring forth my work to this job, and I do the best that I can,” he told the magazine. “I would say that literally every single aspect of my reality, inclusive of a lot of things that are not fine with me, are fine with me. It’s amazing how far the banner of all good can extend.”
Miller and Depp’s costar Jude Law, who plays Albus Dumbledore, previously said he never crossed paths with the Pirates of the Caribbean star on set.
“I’ve only admired him from afar,” Law, 45, told Entertainment Weekly in July. “We don’t know each other, and I’ve not yet met him.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is now playing.
