At a press junket in New York for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, JK Rowling was asked about the rumored exploration of Albus Dumbledore’s sexual orientation in the upcoming sequels.
“I can’t tell you everything I’d like to say because obviously it’s a five-part story and there’s lots to unpack in that relationship. I will say you’ll see Dumbledore as a younger man and quite a troubled man because he wasn’t always the sage. He was always very clever. We’ll see him at what I think was the formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch this space.”
RELATED: Will Johnny Depp Play Albus Dumbledore’s Gay Lover in ‘Fantastic Beasts’?
I’ve been told from someone close to production that this IS Grindelwald. Shot appears at very beginning of movie https://t.co/a16ZRUd44v pic.twitter.com/z0fT4HxNHn
— Andrew Sims+ (@sims) October 13, 2016
It has been revealed that Johnny Depp will play the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
More on the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald via The Independent:
As mentioned in the Harry Potter films, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in a three-hour duel, winning the Elder Wand’s allegiance as a result (the Elder Wand being one of the three Deathly Hallows, teased in a recent poster).
Before their relationship fell apart, however, Grindelwald and Dumbledore were best friends, becoming enamoured by the Deathly Hallows together – a fight between Dumbledore’s brother Aberforth and Grindelwald that led to their sister’s death resulted in the friendship ending.
The casting of Depp has been tarnished by allegations of abuse after his split from Amber Heard. Director David Yates is shrugging it off in an interview with Screen Rant:
“The whole principle of casting the movie was go for the best actor; go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. As we started to approach Grindelwald, we thought: ‘Who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’ In this business — it’s a weird old business — you’re a star one week, people are saying odd things the next, but no one takes away your pure talent.
“Johnny Depp is a real artist and he’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture,” the film-maker continued. “He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor and we were excited about seeing what he would do with this kind of character. He’s fearless, he’s imaginative, he’s ambitious. We thought he’d do something fun and special. So we went for him purely on that selfish basis, we don’t care if he’s famous or not famous, we just know he’s interesting.”
