LOS ANGELES — Johnny Depp’s charismatic leader at the center of the new “Fantastic Beasts” sequel isn’t modeled on President Trump.

But the stars of “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,” the film written by J.K. Rowling about a dark wizard who becomes a divisive leader in the magical world, tell The Associated Press there are some similarities.

The film is set in the “Harry Potter” universe and finds Depp’s character, Gellert Grindelwald, seeking to gain power and divide “pureblood” wizards from humans in 1920s Paris.

“It’s shining a light, isn’t it, on things that have happened before as well,” said Callum Turner, who plays Theseus, the older brother to Eddie Redmayne’s hero main character in the film. “And how seductive and easy things can take a turn for the worse.”

Ezra Miller plays a mysterious character named Credence Barebone, whose powers include a destructive magical parasite. He says Grindelwald shares similarities to many leaders throughout history.

“I think it’s approaching universal themes that sure, can you look at all of the autocrats in all of history and be like, ‘Yup, they are all kind of that guy, sure,’ ” Miller said. “There’s a period where they just convince everyone that they are on their team and they’re going to get them good jobs and it’s going to be awesome.

“And that’s like how tyranny works.”

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the second of five planned movies in the franchise, hits theaters in the U.S. and U.K. on Nov. 16.

– From news service reports

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