David Yates Defends Casting Accessorizing Enthusiast Johnny Depp in ‘Fantastic Beasts’

For most people, Johnny Depp's appearance at the end of last year's Harry Potter universe flick Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a huge disappointment. He was revealed to be the villainous Gellert Grindelwald, former object of young Dumbledore's affections and the new "big baddie" for this five film series.

The reaction to this reveal, had it happened ten years ago, would likely have been much more elated, but due to it coming when Depp is more or less at the lowest point in his career, it went over like a fart in church. Now series director David Yates is defending Depp, and saying that any notions about him being a sex maniac or a lady slapper are patently false from his perspective. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Yates seemed defensive when asked about whether Depp's personal problems are bleeding into his performance...

“Honestly, there’s an issue at the moment where there’s a lot of people being accused of things, they’re being accused by multiple victims, and it’s compelling and frightening,” Yates said. “With Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something. I can only tell you about the man I see every day: He’s full of decency and kindness, and that’s all I see. Whatever accusation was out there doesn’t tally with the kind of human being I’ve been working with.”

For the record, I'm not opposed to the notion of Depp being in the movie at all, I'm opposed to the fact that no directors seem to tell him no when it comes to accessorizing. The looks of his characters have gotten substantially stupider in the last few years. I mean, look at him...

It looks like he's going for Jake Busey meets Snow Miser. It makes no sense. That's what I'm most upset about.