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FILMINK September 2003

Satisfied Mind

Once one of Hollywood’s most celebrated rebels, Johnny Depp is now a happily family man who has found peace and solace in France. And he’s also riding the biggest blockbuster of his career with the swashbuckling epic Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Filmink’s Philip Berk met the charismatic star in Los Angeles, and found a kinder, gentler Johnny Depp.

I once asked JD if he felt personally responsible if one of his films didn’t do well at the box office. “I’ve never considered myself a businessman,” was the actor’s reply. “Whatever result a film has at the box office is none of my business. My job is to deliver a performance and a director’s vision. If I’m not a bankable superstar, I’m not unhappy. At least I don’t have the responsibility of justifying a very large salary.”
How things have changed! Before this, Depp’s resume read like a canon of cool: Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow, Ted Demme’s Blow, John Waters’ Cry Baby, Emir Kusturica’s Arizona Dream, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Lasse Halstrom’s What Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. But now, after doing quirky roles in idiosyncratic movies for years, JD is suddenly the star of Disney’s $150 million swashbuckler inspired by the Disneyland theme park attraction, POTC. Starring opposite OB, GR, KN and Jonathan Pryce, and produced by no less than Jerry Bruckheimer, Depp dominates the screen as the pirate captain Jack Sparrow. Since this interview, the film has become a huge blockbuster, grossing over $200 million in the US and Canada alone. Would Depp be willing to cut across the grain and do a sequel?
“I think that would be fantastic,” he cheerfully replies. “It would be absolutely fantastic, because when I was first offered the role, I thought it was a joke. Why would Disney want to cast me? I was more shocked than anyone. But ironically while we were making it, it never felt like we were doing a blockbuster on a giant budget. In fact it wasn’t until I saw the first trailer that I went, ‘oh my god, what’s that?’ but it would be nice to have a hugely successful film… especially one that you did because you loved doing it. I don’t get offered too many.”
While doing press duties for the film in Beverly Hills - he had flown in from his home in Paris for the premiere – Depp resembles more the whacked out character he plays in the movie than the star he is. For the role, he had his front teeth gold-capped, and they’re still there. What was the inspiration for that, and how long does he intend to keep them? Ï never intended to keep them. After we finished shooting, I was in a hurry to get back to Europe, so I didn’t get a chance to go to the dentist. It was only afterwards that I realised I was going to be stuck with these teeth for another four months.
Personally I don’t really notice them too much, although occasionally I get glances. ‘What’s in his mouth?’ I remember reading as a kid that George Washington had wooden dentures, so I thought of getting wooden teeth. But wait a minute – bad dentistry or no dentistry – wouldn’t these pirates just use their plundered gold to stuff in the cavities? So I went for different degrees – 18, 24 and 22 – and then added the platinum, so it would look like scraps they had found. But I’m going to get then removed as soon as I get to the dentist here in la.”
For the role of the swashbuckling pirate Capt Jack, Depp attended a pirate boot camp. How strenuous was that? “Mostly it was sword fighting, which was very demanding and physically taxing because it’s a total body workout without breaks. I remember my agent telling me, ‘this is going to be a though one. You’re gonna be exhausted,’ and I thought ‘no, it’s going to be fine’. But then we started the sword training. By the end of the day you’re about to fall over, but you push yourself through the pain. The first couple of days you’re ready for eight hours sleep, but after a month I was up to it.”
Does he like his new, physical look? “I don’t like it in terms of vanity, the ‘look ma, I have muscles’ thing, but as a dad with two kiddies – I’ve just hit forty – I have to cut down on my smoking and to do that, doing physical things like jumping in a swimming pool helps.”
While shooting pars of the film in LA, Depp and his partner, French singer-actress VP, took some time out to take their kids (daughter LRM was born on May, 27, 19999, while son Jack came into the world on April 10, 2002) to Disneyland to visit the actual POTC ride. “We took both of them, “Depp explains. “At first I thought lily-Rose would only want to do the Toon Town kind of thing, Alice in Wonderland, and it’s a small world, and I was wondering if we’d ever get to the POTC. But eventually we went on the ride, and she absolutely loved it. You want to tell her papa’s making a movie about it, but she doesn’t think of daddy as an actor. A few weeks ago we went to a Maroccan restaurant in Paris where they had a belly dancer, and she wandered over to her, while a friend kept an eye on her an eye on her, and the belly dancer asked her, ‘what does your mommy do?’ and she said, ‘my mommy’s a singer.’ and what does your daddy do?’ and she said, ‘I think he’s a pirate’.” What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, Depp was a carouser, a womaniser, a hellraiser, and a near alcoholic bent on self-destruction. Today he is a devoted family man all because of the aforementioned VP.
Does he still love living in France? “I’ve always been drawn to France. I went there for the first time in 1989 after I finished cry baby. It was my first trip to Europe. I went there alone. I lived in Paris and I loved it. I didn’t know a soul there, and I could never understand why I was so happy there. I’d go at least twice a year before I met Vanessa. After I fell in love, it was a lost cause. And then a few months later we found out that she was pregnant and we were going to have a baby. When I went over there I had no idea I’d be living there permanently, but it’s there that I’ve found a type of happiness I’ve never experienced anywhere else.”
Did he ever think he’d become such a devoted daddy? “Quite frankly, no, but I have to say it’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life... it’s the only reason to wake up in the morning. I used to say that more than the fact that Vanessa and I gave our daughter life, I think she gave us life. It was as though for thirty years I was walking in a haze, existing in a fog, not really living, and then on may 27th 19999 at 8:25 pm, everything suddenly became focused. It was sublime. And now we have two.”
Depp and Paradis, however, are in no rush to officially formalise their union. “I consider Vanessa and I already married. We just haven’t gone through the formalities, signing papers and all that, but to me and to her, we’re husband and wife. However, when the kids are old enough, we’d like to have a three day gypsy wedding.”
With all the anti-French sentiment in the US and the anti-us feeling in France, does Depp ever feel compelled to defend his country? “Oddly enough I haven’t noticed any remotely anti-American sentiment. I think the French are too polished for that. But clearly they were upset when bush decided to go in and police Iraq. To be quite honest, if you mention the name George W. Bush, there’s a smile that comes over their faces. And I can tell you they laughed as much as I did when they wanted to change French fries and French toast to freedom fries and freedom toast.”
So what type of script gets his attention these days? “I’ve always responded to the same thing. For example, when just the idea for making a pirate movie was floating around, the mere mention of the names of Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, who had written Shrek, which I had loved, gave me a good feeling right away. I also liked the idea of a pirate film – that’s something that hasn’t been visited for quite some time. On top of which they were taking that structure and stretching it out. And all that was in the screenplay; so that’s what did it for me.”
Though Depp is quick to accredit the screenwriters for the success of the film, the critics have been almost unanimous in their verdict that what really drives the movie is this off-the-wall interpretation of the freewheeling captain jack. “In preparing any role, I become the victim of my imagination,” Depp explains of his creation of the character. “I invariably get a flood of messages. So early on I thought that maybe captain jack’s brain has been affected by the intense heat of the Caribbean. So I spent a lot of time in my sauna. And living on a ship all the time, his sea legs would be uncomfortable on land – so that’s why he sometimes seems on the verge of falling over. But then I thought to myself, the pirates of the 18the century… who would they be like in today’s world? And it occurred to me… rock stars! And then I asked myself, ‘who is the greatest rock and roll star?’ and it’s Keith Richards of the Stones. So I modeled my character on him and also on the cartoon character Pepe Le Pew, who was always someone able to run between the rain drops.”
Despite his famously funky and highly individualistic appearance, Depp has often been called one of the beautiful people. “I think that has more to do with the makeup person or the lighting,” Depp says, brushing off the claims. What’s beautiful? My daughter is beautiful. My son [one year old jack] is beautiful, my girl is beautiful, my life is beautiful, my family is beautiful… there are a lot of beautiful things in the world. I have said a lot of harsh things about America, but I never meant it to sound as if I hate America because I don’t. It has more to do with the fact that there’s a lot of ugliness in this country, a lot of ignorance, a lot of violence, a lot of greed, a lot of gluttony. The truth is, I love America. I’m just disappointed in what it has become… so can I say that America I beautiful too>”
Despite obviously now being at peace, Depp was once famous for his darker side...” For a lot of years I went around confused about life, confused about growing up, confused about not really knowing what was right and wrong, and what was important. I was kind of miserable, abusing myself and feeling very angry and having a rage that was really close to the surface. I can’t say that it has gone away. It’s till there – anger, darkness, whatever – but I’ve never been closer to the light than right now.”
And where does JD see his career twenty years down the line? “Twenty years? I’m just astonished that I’m still here now! I’m astonished I can get work, that I can get a gig, do the things I want to do without compromise. I find that shocking. Here must be some angel guiding things in the right direction. Hopefully I’m still around in twenty years.”

There are more blocks of text that I will type up later. They are: KN on JD, OB on JD, The lost and the Brave, Johnny guitar.