‘Fantastic Beasts 2’ Spoilers: Eddie Redmayne Talks Jude Law’s Role As Dumbledore

People hate the fact that Johnny Depp will be playing the villain, Gellert Grindelwald, in the upcoming movie “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” However, the same cannot be said of Jude Law’s role as the young Albus Dumbledore.

Fans are eager to see Law in action as the future Hogwarts headmaster, and even Eddie Redmayne, who plays magizoologist Newt Scamander, thought he was the perfect addition to the film.

“I had talked a little bit with Jo [Rowling] about what Newt and Dumbledore’s relationship was in the first film because it was alluded to. And then when they cast Jude, who I’ve known for a long time, it made such sense because there was a kind of debonair quality to him, but also like a playfullness that felt entirely appropriate, but also there’s kind of a weight to his… he’s got a weightiness, Dumbledore… Not physical weightiness,” he laughingly told Screen Rant. “But when Jude arrived on set, he just looked so perfect. It all made complete sense.”

Redmayne did not mention anything about Depp, but Rowling previously did. In her statement, Rowling said that Depp seemed perfect when they first chose him as Grindelwald. She added that Warner Bros. Studios seriously considered recasting the character because of the issues surrounding his personal life, but she hinted that there are things that they cannot tell the public because they want to “protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives.” Because of this, there’s an “inability to speak openly to fans about this issue.”

“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,” she continued.

On the other hand, “Harry Potter” actor Daniel Radcliffe said it was a “hard thing” for him to learn about Depp’s domestic violence raps against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

“I can see why people are frustrated with the response that they were given from that … I’m not saying anything that anybody hasn’t already said — and this is a weird analogy to draw — [but] in the NFL, there are lots of players arrested for smoking weed and there is other people’s behavior that goes way beyond that and it’s tolerated because they’re very famous players. I suppose the thing I was struck by was, we did have a guy who was reprimanded for weed on the [original ‘Potter’] film, essentially, so obviously what Johnny has been accused of is much greater than that,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” will be released on Nov. 16, 2018.