With the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Mads Mikkelsen has now reinvented his third iconic villainous role in cinema, the others being Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal. The latest installment of the Harry Potter-based Wizarding World franchise not only aims to pay off the promises of the previous Fantastic Beasts movies but also looks to add another fiendish Mads Mikkelsen performance to his already impressive resume of villain roles.
After a critically acclaimed career in international cinema, the Danish actor made his way to Hollywood and soon found mainstream success with his 2006 performance as the James Bond villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale — the first part of the Daniel Craig era of the 007 franchise. His was the third screen portrayal of the character, after Peter Lorre in a 1954 television adaptation and Orson Welles in a 1967 parody of Casino Royale. Years later, Mikkelsen went on to reinvent another one of cinema’s most iconic villains, Hannibal Lecter, in the 2013-2015 TV series Hannibal. Previous actors who played Hannibal Lecter in movies include Brian Cox, Gaspard Ulliel, and Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his take on the character.
Now Mikkelsen adds to his filmography one of the most powerful villains in the Wizarding World franchise: Gellert Grindelwald, who was previous portrayed by Johnny Depp in the first two Fantastic Beasts installments. That brings his total number of complete reinventions of major movie villains to three. All of these iconic roles came with a hefty legacy, yet his unique talents, training, and professionalism have allowed him to focus on the work and deliver nuanced yet unique performances that both pay tribute to previous iterations of the characters and completely make the roles his own.
Why Mads Mikkelsen Plays So Many Villains
Ever since he became a well-known actor in the United States, Mads Mikkelsen has perfectly typecast as villains in blockbuster movies. This is because of his slightly severe facial features, his Danish accent, and the method in which he approaches these roles. In addition to his reinventions of Le Chiffre and Hannibal Lecter, Mikkelsen’s notable villainous characters also include the evil sorcerer Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. He often states that his villains believe they are the heroes, which is why they are so sympathetic and relatable. Mikkelsen is also a trained gymnast and dancer, so he has honed every part of his body and mind to focus entirely on each character’s objective. This physical presence and mental focus make his villains even more terrifying because they will do anything and everything to get what they want.
How Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre Changed & Modernized James Bond Villains
Mads Mikkelsen’s depiction of Le Chiffre completely changed modern expectations for a Bond villain and helped make Casino Royale the most popular Bond movie of all time. Bond villains had often been cool, collected, calculating, and dapper. While Le Chiffre also represents all of those qualities, underneath his calm exterior is a desperate man willing to sink to whatever depths he needs to in order to save his skin. This led to the infamous torture scene in Casino Royale, which proved the new James Bond era was darker than ever before, thanks to villains like Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre. This depiction of such a desperate and calculating villain grounded the new 007 movies in a grittier space where the stakes for Bond’s survival were higher than ever.
Mads Mikkelsen Completely Reinvented Hannibal Lecter
In Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal series, based on the books by Thomas Harris, the serial killer Hannibal Lecter and FBI profiler Will Graham play a deadly cat and mouse game as they try to outwit each other. Audiences were familiar with Hannibal “the Cannibal,” particularly via Anthony Hopkins’s performances in The Silence of the Lambs and two additional adaptations, but Mads Mikkelsen portrayed the character in an entirely new light, presenting Lecter initially as trustworthy and charming. His European charisma made it easy to forget that Mikkelsen was playing one of fiction’s most brutal murderers, and this allowed viewers to understand why Lecter was so dangerous and why it took so long for the FBI to catch him. Although Mikkelsen didn’t portray Lecter in movie theaters, his performance will be remembered as one of the most interesting and terrifying portrayals of the character, just as iconic as Hopkins’s take on the role.
Mads Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald Is A Big Change From Johnny Depp’s (& Better)
After the controversial recasting of Johnny Depp’s role in Fantastic Beasts, Mads Mikkelsen stepped in to play the franchise’s central antagonist, Gillert Grindelwald. The actor set out to build a bridge between what Depp had done for the character —without copying him — and bring a new interpretation that better suited the needs of The Secrets of Dumbledore. Mikkelsen plays the power-hungry wizard with the gravitas of a man on a mission who believes he is fully justified in his actions. And the actor’s wise and mischievous take on Grindelwald more closely matches the energy of Jude Law’s depiction of a young Albus Dumbledore, which made their characters’ shared pasts even more believable.
Some even claim Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald is better than Depp’s, though his focus was always on delivering an interesting performance rather than beating his predecessors. This ideology has been consistent throughout his career, as he always graciously emphasized performing a role to the best of his abilities rather than trying to outdo or outshine anyone. In doing so, he connects with audiences’ expectations for his portrayal of iconic villains while also giving them an entirely new interpretation of that character to love. Mads Mikkelsen has embraced the joy and craft of playing established villainous characters, as seen in his performance in Casino Royale, Hannibal, and now Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, so audiences can expect him to continue reinventing maniacal yet sympathetic fiends in the future.
