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Ian McKellen<\/strong><\/a> is teasing Johnny Depp<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s upcoming Hollywood return in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s in spankingly good form,\u201d McKellen told Variety<\/em><\/a> in an interview on Wednesday, April 8. \u201cEffervescent, funny, irreverent, serious \u2014 all at the same time. It was a bit of a love fest, really. I fell in love with him. He\u2019s very obliging to his fellow actors. [There was] a wonderful feeling on the set.\u201d<\/p>\n Depp, 62, plays Ebenezer Scrooge in the upcoming fantasy film based on Charles Dickens<\/strong>‘ classic, A Christmas Carol<\/em>. He is joined by McKellen, 86, as Scrooge\u2019s former business partner, Jacob Marley. The cast of the Ti West<\/strong>-directed movie also includes Andrea Riseborough<\/strong> as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Severance<\/em>\u2019s Tramell Tillman<\/strong> as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Harry Potter<\/em> star Rupert Grint<\/strong> as Bob Cratchit, and Sam Claflin<\/strong> and Daisy Ridley<\/strong> in unspecified roles.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was only six days, but it was well worth it. I play a ghost!\u201d McKellen said of his role in the movie, which is set for release in November.<\/p>\n Johnny Depp\u2019s Romantic History: Winona Ryder, Kate Moss and More<\/a><\/p>\n The Paramount Pictures film marks Depp\u2019s first major Hollywood role since 2018\u2019s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald<\/em>.<\/p>\n Amid the actor\u2019s legal battles with the U.K.\u2019s Sun<\/em> newspaper and ex-wife Amber Heard<\/strong>, Depp was asked to step down from his role as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in 2022\u2019s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore<\/em>.<\/p>\n The role was recast with Mads Mikkelsen<\/a> in November 2020 after Depp lost a defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun<\/em> newspaper, which had branded him a \u201cwife beater\u201d in an April 2018 article following his divorce from Heard, 39.<\/p>\n In a November 2020 judgment, Judge Andrew Nicol<\/strong> ruled that the allegation was \u201csubstantially true,\u201d<\/a> according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly<\/em> at the time. Nicol said there was sufficient evidence that Depp had physically assaulted the actress at least 12 of the 14 times she claimed he did.<\/p>\n Every A-List Name Dropped in Johnny Depp\u2019s Defamation Trial Against Amber Heard: Zendaya, Chris Pine and More<\/a><\/p>\n Days after the verdict, Depp said in an Instagram<\/a> post that he had \u201cbeen asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts<\/em> and I have respected and agreed to that request.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe surreal judgement of the court in the U.K. will not change my fight to tell the truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal. \u2026 My resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the allegations against me are false. My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n Depp\u2019s appeal was denied by Judge Nicol in November 2020 and his application to overturn the judgment was rejected by the U.K. Court of Appeal in March 2021.<\/p>\n In 2022, Depp and Heard were both found liable for defaming one another in a lengthy Virginia trial. The exes settled their claims<\/a> against one another in December that year.<\/p>\n