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Interview by Jean-Paul Chaillet
Translation by Corinne

His foot always steps where no Hollywoodian star dares to put the hand, that is the leitmotiv, the destiny, the vocation of Johnny Depp. Some says he's lunar, we know he is out of time and we found out he was passionate looking back to his filmography. His partnerships in movie industry are productive. The one he shares with Tim Burton is not the least, directed for the third time by his accomplice in the gothic "Sleepy Hollow". Mr. Depp portrays a detective whose Cartesianism clashes the ancestral fears of a small village in the 18th century. Black is black ... but there's still hope !

Ciné Live : After "Edward's Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood", what was your reunion with Tim Burton like ?
Johnny Depp : Heavenly like. It was almost paradise ! I really think we perfectly match in this work, the ideal way to work with someone. That's something I can't really explain. From the beginning our connection is based on an affinity, a confidence and a trust we share together. I'm totally self-confident with him and I know we share the same vision of absurdity in things, a similar perspective on life generally speaking, but also a common point of view, in a way twisted, on comprehension and incomprehension in the world !

Ciné Live : Do you remember when you two first met ?
JD : We didn't know each other before the casting for "Edward Scissorhands". I didn't even want to go to the casting for I feared they would only see me as a television actor. But a silent complicity happened between us. We suddenly were on the same wavelength. And you know every time we have to work together I have this strange feeling of coming home, being on a familiar ground.

Ciné Live : How did you turn yourself into Ichabod Crane's character ?
JD : I started by renting many old movies produced by the Hammer Company and Tim offered me to borrow some from his impressive personal collection. Films with Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee ... I wanted to analyze their acting back to that time. The style is very different, so specific, that was the most intriguing to me and today I can say I'm really able to appreciate their acting work. I felt like playing like them and I really enjoyed it. But you know it's rather risky and on the verge of something if you don't beware. At first sight it's like bad acting but after a while you're no longer sure it is. That's where the challenge lies : the barrier between what is good or bad, what is funny or not is never clearly defined. It's like walking on the razor blade like a kind of equilibrist.

Ciné Live : Your acting in a way sometimes is like Buster Keaton's one...
JD : Thanks a lot. Keaton has always been one of my favorite heroes. I loved what he did a long time before thinking of being a comedian too. Nowadays, Keaton has been forgotten not so well known as he used to be. He never had the same gratitude from the movie industry unlike Charlie Chaplin and that's really unfair. But you know, the essence of my acting in this movie is essentially due to the magnificent Washington Irving's prose. First Ichabod Crane is a very interesting character. The challenge to me consisted in adding few elements, push him over further in order to modulate him softly to try surprise the audience. Some of my models and inspirations were also Basil Rathborne, the English actor known essentially for being Sherlock Holmes, and also a great friend of mine who deceased not a long ago Roddy McDowall, what a man and such an incredible actor. And then I also inspired a lot from the actress Angela Lansbury, and I did my best to mix up all these styles of acting in order to get to my very personal personalization of Ichabod Crane and that is not necessary what the audience expected.

Ciné Live : You started acting rather young. Who were the actors you admired and try to imitate ?
JD : I do not have the impression of copying anyone. Not consciously I mean. Some inspired me as I've already say like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. But there's also Lon Chaney, the one, according to me, who revolutioned the classic way of acting before, a long time before Marlon Brando did the same in his own way. I definitely consider myself as a "character actor" much more than an actor from a special genre. At least, that's what I have the ambition to become. It's much more rewarding to me, much more important than just being another "leading man", or a traditional "studio made star".

Ciné Live : Was it your choice, at the very beginning of your carrier, to play in such movies that made you such an atypical actor or did you consciously try to avoid being "in" for not being labeled as so ?
JD : When I started I played for 3 and a half years in "21 Jump Street". Such a school that taught me a lot on every aspect of this industry, so all the technical aspect : the light, the lenses, became really part of me. But in another way I also realized that I was trapped, limited in this playing part. I turned into a product I had no control on and others took advantage of this state to value themselves and draw attention to them. It has no longer anything in common with the real me, the one I was deep inside. So I made myself a promise that I would never fall for this easy stuff and that as soon as I got the opportunity I would only play in movies I no longer have to compromise myself to be in. I'm not pretty sure at this moment I was aware of deciding on which parts to play rather than others, not consciously I mean. But I did realize the risk I have to take in saying "no" to some rather than others, especially the ones that would have become big success.

Ciné Live : You mean not playing in blockbusters for instance ?
JD : Exactly, otherwise I would have felt raped, being a whore selling his body you know. Living in a big lie, betraying myself. Nothing in the world would have lead me to such a thing. And you know what I do not have the slightest regret about it.

Ciné Live : Do you think the success of a movie lies on the actor ? Is it possible to ruin it because of him ?
JD : In my case I do not have to justify a huge salary and that is a great advantage. I do not belong to this category of comedians so I do not have to bear the burden of this responsibility. I refuse to see myself as a businessman. I don't care the results from the top list of the box office. My work, my passion are defined in a way by giving up myself into acting and helping the director to make his point. That's all.

Ciné Live : At this step in your carrier, what is the genuine meaning of the acting job ?
JD : It's a rather weird occupation, but it gives me an opportunity to satisfy my passionate thirst for human behavior. I think it is essential for every actor, long before attending school acting or reading books on how to do it, to start simply by looking all around you and observing the others. You have to store these observations on their behavior, their twitches, their defaults, the idiosyncrasies of the human beings and put them in a kind of herbarium before using it later when you have to portray a character in the most honest way. And there's one thing you must never forget nothing is like what it seems to be. As men we show a certain aspect to the audience, an another to our relatives. But you behind this façade something different is constantly happening, a subjacent thing. In this job it's that contradiction that fascinates me and it's one of the reasons why I like it so much.

Ciné Live : Let's talk about Marlon Brando. You costarred him twice...
JD : Among all the actors I played with, it's been the greatest teacher, the most giving person in the field of ideas and thoughts. He helped me to gain this self confidence I missed so much in many ways he was a great support helping me in understanding and analyzing some of my reactions. He helped me understand why I felt so much beating up the paparazzi for instance ! And you know, when he said he was OK to play in the movie I was directed, he also asked not to be paid or taking part in the incomings of the movie. I don't think there are enough languages in this world to express him how much grateful I am...

Ciné Live : What would be a good comparison between Tim Burton and Roman Polanski, you just happened to finish a movie with ?
JD : They are quite different. I can assure you they do admire each other's work and have a profound respect for each other. What I like the most in Tim is that he is open minded, he is so thirsty for discovering things. He doesn't fear fate or human mistake : these mistakes won't prevent the scene from working on screen. On the set he perfectly knows how to create a mood that stimulates the creative process. You can do anything you want, improvise whatever you feel, go as far as you want. And you know, when Tim doesn't like what's going on he definitely knows how to hold you back subtly and get you in the right way exactly where he wants you to be. He is very generous and really like cooperation. Roman is rather different. He sticks to the script and to the acting advice. In a way he's rather rigid and doesn't feel like going for changes, pushing yourself farther or improvising on what was first written. To him, directing is like mathematical thing, he's rather like a scientist. He can think about something for let's say 20 minutes even though that detail won't be seen by the camera...

Ciné Live : Next, you're going to be in Sally Potter's "The man who cried". What kind of director is she ?
JD : She is stupendous. I saw her former movies : "Orlando" and "A tango lesson" and I had this feeling she was that kind of brave woman who doesn't fear fate. But I've never met anyone in my life who is spending so much time and who is so involved in search in her work. When I met her at home, to discuss about the gypsies and what happened to them in 1939, during the Occupation, her office was full with heaps of documents with quotes on them... She has a great consciousness about History and she wants the message clear and honest for everyone. You can't imagine another director much more pure or sensitive than her.

Ciné Live : These golden teeth you have at the moment, are they for the part ?
JD : I portrayed a Rumanian gypsy and we just finished the shooting. But it scares the hell out of me to have them removed at the dentist'. They say it's much more painful to remove them than to put them on. So I don't feel like rushing in. Thanks to this movie I happen to spend a lot of time with members of a local folkloric orchestra in a small village next to Bucharest. You know in order to learn the bases of their language and have a better knowledge of their way of living which has mostly been the same for centuries. These people are unbelievable.

Ciné Live : How do you feel now ?
JD : Honestly, I'm stunned to be where I am today and to be what I am. I also feel the same about my carrier how can they offer me a job when my films are no blockbusters. And the most amazing thing I really can't believe is that I have the opportunity to play in the movie I want to play in, the ones I really care for and all this without any compromise. There must be a protective angel somewhere up there, a very generous guide that helps me to follow the right path... *