Actor Mads Mikkelsen praised Johnny Depp as an “amazing actor” and hinted at his possible return to the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise after his legal victory over his ex-wife Amber Heard, The Guardian reported, citing News.ro.

The 56-year-old Danish actor, known for his roles in the movie “Casino Royale” and the NBC TV series “Hannibal”, replaced Depp, 59, as Gellert Grindelwald in “Fantastic Beasts: The Mystery of Dumbledore”.

According to Deadline, at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Mikkelsen said that accepting the role from Depp was “very scary” and talked about the reason for Depp’s departure from the franchise – a defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard.

He said: “Obviously the course has changed now – he won the case, [cazul] – So we’ll see if he comes back. He could. I’m a big fan of Johnny. I think he’s a great actor, I think he’s done a fantastic job.”

Mikkelsen paid attention to Johnny Depp

“Having said that, I couldn’t copy it. There was no way I could copy him because he looked too much like him. That would be creative suicide. So we had to come up with something else, something mine, and build a bridge between him and me. So, yes, it was scary,” Mikkelsen said.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is suing his ex-wife over an article she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 about her experiences of domestic abuse.

Depp is now planning to make his first feature film in 25 years. The film will tell the story of the Italian artist and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani.

Last week, Depp signed his first major deal after winning a lawsuit against his ex-wife, reuniting with luxury goods franchise Dior, best known for its perfumes.

As always, you can find more news from the world of movies and series, as well as other exciting news in this weekend’s Nerd Alert column:

• The Next Pandemic May Have a Surprising Origin / Carl Sagan’s Disturbing Prophecy / Robin Williams’ Film That’s Back on the Charts