Johnny Depp is recalling the moment he was asked to step down from his role in the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts amid personal turmoil.

Johnny Depp is detailing just how not fantastic his experience was in the “ Fantastic Beasts ” franchise amid his controversial defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp had only filmed a single scene for the third film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” before being asked to walk away.

Fantastic Beasts star Johnny Depp was fired from the Harry Potter spinoff series and was replaced by actor Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindlewald in later movies. Depp was originally cast as Fantastic Beasts' central villain in the series, though his tenure ...