|
| Home | Filmography | Newsletter | Information | Messageboard | Photogalleries | Fanshowcase | Depp Vault |
Nonstop English Wave - October, 2001(donated by Kyoko) 
What I live ForMorgan : Hi everyone. This is Morgan Bell, here again bringing you "Celebrity Chat." Our guest this month is Johnny Depp and we'll be talking about his recent movie Blow, which is the true story of drug kingpin George Jung, who almost single-handedly turned America onto cocaine in the '70s.Blow tells of Jung's troubled childhood in a poor family, to his marijuana-dealing days in California, which would ultimately lead to a life as a millionaire cocaine trafficker for a Colombian cartel. Jung pays the price, however, losing his family and friends, and eventually finds himself in jail for the rest of his life. Johnny, I'd like to start by asking you what it was that made you decide to do this film? Johnny : First thing was, the screenplay was ahh... I thought was a really, you know, unique way of telling this kind of story, and because it is a unique story, and, George is a unique individual. Umm, the screenplay, I was impressed with the screenplay. I was uh, doubly impressed with Ted Demmi's passion for the... not even just the material but the guy, the real George, and then meeting George, umm... By the time I met George and spent a couple of days with George, I was, I was locked in and there was no... there was no way to turn around. I was just so fascinated with his life, and what he'd gone through, and what he still... what he goes through every day now, still. Morgan : By the sounds of it, the time you spent with Jung was key to understanding the significance of the story and the man himself. Did you take away a lot from that meeting with him? Johnny : The two days that I spent with George... this sort of intense two days in the prison in upstate New York, made all difference, did everything. Because, at a certain point, you know, you... there's a decision, you know, you have to make: Is this a performance or is this a portrayal, and it was much more important to me that... to abandon the idea of performance and to... and to portray George and to try and be as honest as possible, and be as "him" as possible. Morgan : With society's values constantly changing from year to year, and constantly increasing violent crimes in the U.S., it must be hard to meet a guy like George, get to know him, play his character, then realize that he'll never be released from prison. And this is someone that I'm sure never set out to hurt anyone. Johnny : No, he definitely didn't want to hurt anybody at all. I mean, George is a very non-violent guy. There's not a violent bone in his body. Umm, his whole thing was, you know, one of the things I recognized in George when I first met him and spent a couple of hours with him was that, ahh, he's... I saw George as kind of a victim uh, in a way, you know, a victim of his upbringing, you know, a victim of the conditioning that was placed on him by his parents. A victim of the experiences that he had to go through as a child, his mother being obsessively materialistic, his father never really being able to hit the mark and make his mom happy, in terms of the money. Um, so his father being a failure to some degree, a failure, you know, even though this is the guy he worshipped, you know, he really worshipped his father, and ahh, and I think that that dictated a lot of George's actions in his life. Uh, and the sad thing is that he became everything he never wanted to become. Morgan : Just getting off the subject of Blow for a moment, Johnny, your career and the movies that you've made reflect a stance against cliched Hollywood stories of happy endings and explosions. When you first decided that this would be the path you would take, was there ever any doubt in your mind that you were making the right decision or that there were risks involved in turning your back on big Hollywood producers? Johnny : No, it was the only decision I could make. I mean, it was the only one that was the right decision to make for me because I, you know, I started out, you know, in this business kind of, you know, just doing it because they were going to pay me, you know, like really good money comparative to what I was used to, and then... and then one thing led to another and I had to sort of stick with it, and ahh, then I got involved with the television series and that for me, as great as it was for me, and as good as it was for me ultimately, it was really umm, it was difficult to deal with, you know, shooting like seven to nine months out of the year, ahh, like you're just constantly working, uh, on material that wasn't really stuff that I like. I mean, it just wasn't, you know, it wasn't what I wanted to be doing, but I was contractually bound and I was in there and that was it. So, once I got out of that, once I got out of... away from being the product, you know, or the victim, in a sense, you know, they had made me into this product... I swore to myself that I would just do the things that I wanted to do and ahh, and try not to, you know, have to compromise too... often... much. Morgan : These days you make your home in the south of France; beautiful, I'm sure, but you've been noted as saying you enjoy getting away to Italy whenever you can. Are there any spots in particular that you enjoy visiting? Johnny : Umm, central Italy, there's this sweet little village I went to called Norcia, I think, Norcia. Perugia, ahh, Umbria, Urbino, Tuscany, Florence, central Italy. I was really, I was really impressed with the people, really warm people. I went to a... I remember pulling... you know they have these gas stations, you know, on the side of the road, and they're sort of a gas station, snack bar, bar, whatever. And I was under the weather, I was like sick, had a flu or something. Went into this gas station, I was just gonna' go in and get like a glass of water or a coke or water or something, and the woman behind the counter said ahh, she looked at me and she said, this guy translated for me, she said, "You don't look so good." She said, "Give me a minute." She went back in the back and she made me a sandwich and brought it out to me, gave it to me, you know, didn't charge me for it. It was that kind of mentality you know, central Italy, that was my... that's my favorite part of Italy. Morgan : To have the freedom to travel with your family and live in beautiful locations are both things I'm sure actors love about their jobs. But, in your case, what's the key pleasure that you get from your career? Johnny : All of it, really. The whole thing is like a... it's one of the best educations in the world, I mean, and it's given me such great opportunities. I mean, I've been able to meet and spend time and get to know some of the greatest people who have ever been involved in the business, you know, I've been able to work with Robert Mitchum, Marlon Brando, Martin Landau. Morgan : You've been living in France for a while now and apparently you have a nice place in the country that sounds a lot more stress-free than living in the States. Johnny : Yeah, yeah, we got a little property around us, and ahh, we've ahh... the great thing... what France has given me, and Vanessa and my daughter have given me is the opportunity to in fact have a real life, like a normal life, you know, a simple life, where I, you know, can do something, as you know, as sort of mundane as just you know, walk out and go out and pick peaches off the tree and bring them back to the house, you know what I mean, all that stuff, you know, that's what I live for. Morgan : It sounds like a great life and no doubt well deserved.
END OF ARTICLE
Also in this magazine is a mention of Johnnydeppfan.com -
CYBERWALK From teen idol to Hollywood bad boy, Johnny Depp has captivated audiences of all ages with his striking good looks and magnetic charm. This website is packed with information about his personal life and career, and includes a complete biography and a huge gallery of photos. Get the latest information about his most recent appearances and upcoming releases in the newsletter, and be sure to check out "Depptoons," a collection of artwork from fans inspired by the man himself.
|
Return to Interview page