Ian McKellen shares glimpse into Johnny Depp's return to screen post hiatus

Johnny Depp is returning to Hollywood in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, in which he co-stars with Ian McKellen and the Lord of the Rings star shared how it was like to work with him.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 62, last appeared in a movie back in 2018, but McKellen noted, “He’s in spankingly good form. Effervescent, funny, irreverent, serious — all at the same time. It was a bit of a love fest, really. I fell in love with him. He’s very obliging to his fellow actors. [There was] a wonderful feeling on the set.”

The Edward Scissorhands actor plays Ebenezer Scrooge in the movie based on Charles Dickens’ book, A Christmas Carol, and McKellen plays his former business partner Jacob Marley.

“It was only six days, but it was well worth it. I play a ghost!” McKellen told Variety in the interview on Wednesday, April 8.

The movie, which is scheduled to be released in November, also stars Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Severance star Tramell Tillman as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Harry Potter star Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit, Sam Claflin as Fred and Daisy Ridley in an unspecified role.

During his time away from Hollywood Depp has been working on independent films, after he was asked to resign from his role as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022.

The setback came after he lost a lawsuit with UK’s The Sun after they labelled him a “wife beater” in articles amid Amber Heard legal drama.

In an Instagram post, Depp wrote that he had “been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request.”