‘Fantastic Beasts’ Star Jude Law Reacts to Johnny Depp’s Exit, Grindelwald Role Being Recast
Jude Law shared his reaction to his former Fantastic Beasts co-star Johnny Depp's exit from the franchise.
Law is the first of Depp's co-stars to share their reaction publicly to the news that Warner Brothers asked Depp to resign. His resignation comes amid his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, as well as another legal battle against a media outlet that called him a "wife beater."
On Friday (November 13), Law spoke with Entertainment Tonight concerning Depp's shocking exit and the recasting of Depp's role.
"It's an enormous film, and there are many, many layers to it. It's probably one of the biggest productions I've ever worked on," he told the outlet. "And in a situation like this, you defer to the studio. That's all you can do. Because you have to turn up and play your part."
Law revealed that when Depp was asked to exit, filming was already underway for the third installment of the franchise, which is set to debut in 2022. "It was unusual for me because, in fact, on this particular role Johnny had actually only done a day's filming, I think, on his own."
"In a franchise like this, it's the studio and the company that make the big decisions," Law continued. "And you have to go along with those, because we're just a member of the team."
On November 6, Depp wrote an open letter concerning his departure from the films, just days after the ruling for his defamation suit against The Sun took place. In the post, he revealed that he plans to appeal his recent court loss against The Sun and intends to prove that the allegations made against him from his ex-wife are false.