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New York Times - 1991

Johnny Depp Contemplates Life As, and After, "Scissorhands"
Glenn Collins

There were times when Johnny Depp, teen-age heart throb and god of the check-out tabloids, doubted he could play an innocent, soulful, bashful boy who happens to have scissors where his hands should be.

"It wasn't similar to anything I'd played before, to put it mildly," the 27-year-old actor said with a laugh. "I thought, 'No way that people would see me as Edward.'" Edward is, of course, his star turn in "Edward Scissorhands," a suprise hit since its release a month ago in a season glutted with mega-budget powerhouses. The film is a modern-day fable about a walking, talking inventor's creation: a naive lad who has shears for hands, and fingers so sharp they cut whatever they touch.

Swimming Above the Flood

"Then I realized that Edward was all alone, and inside of all of us is this lonely little kid," Mr. Depp said. "Edward is a total outsider. I really know how that feels. And so, then, eventually, I found him. And Edward -- he just clicked."

Surprisingly, the film has clicked too: It had grossed $33.8 million in four weeks, and is holding its own on more than 1,200 screen. "Edward Scissorhands" was directed by Tim Burton ("Batman, "Beetlejuice") and features Winona Ryder as Kim, the girl Edward comes to love. Also appearing are Dianne Wiest as Kim's Avon-lady mother, Alan Arkin as Kim's father, and Vincent Price as the spooky inventor who got Edwar into so much trouble by creating him.

"I was worried that we'd get buried by all the other Christmas-week blockbusters, but the word of mouth on the movie is great," Mr. Depp said. The chemistry between Mr. Depp and Ms. Ryder, his fiancee in real life, has also given the film teen-idol potential, drawing younger audiences.

Mr. Depp has won critical raves for his work in playing the child-like Edward, who finds acceptance in small-town suburbia as a topiary trimmer and haircutter until fate intervenes. Janet Maslin, in her review in The New York Times, termed Mr. Depp's Edward "a stunning creation."

To the actor, though, his portrayal simply grew from his affinity for the character. "I hope this won't sound completely corny," he said, "but I loved playing Edward so much, because there is nothing cynical or jaded or impure about him, nothing mean about him. It's almost a let-down to look in the irror and realize I'm not Edward. I really miss him."

The Future: 'Who Knows?'

Mr. Depp is uncertain about what "Scissorhands" will mean for his career. "I may be around for 20 or 30 years, or 20 or 30 minutes," he said. "Who knows?"

But for now, he feels satisfaction that his teen-king image has been superseded. "That heart-throb, teen-idol stuff is so funny," said Mr. Depp, who spoke by telephone from Los Angeles. "It's funny in a novelty sense, like a corny greeting card." Millions of young hearts began beating for the actor when, for four seasons, he played Officer Tom Hanson, a policeman who goes undercover as a high-school student, in the Fox Television series "21 Jump Street."

"The series was great training, to work in front of a camera five days a week for four years," Mr. Depp said. "And it seems to have put me on the map, put me in a position to do things I really wanted to do, like 'Edward.' But it was never anything morally I felt comfortable with. I mean, the idea of cops in high school is a scary though; I've been quoted as saying it's boderline fascist, but that usually gets me in trouble."

After "Jump Street," Mr. Depp played the part of a soldier, Lerner, in Oliver Stone's film "Platoon," a portrayal Mr. Depp refers to as "my three seconds in 'Platoon.'" Last April, he starred as Cry-Baby Walker, the heroic delinquent in "Cry-Baby," the John Waters' teen-age musical sendup.

While he might miss portraying Edward, Mr. Depp does not miss the two hours a day, during four months, he spent being made up to play the character, with its unearthly white face scarred by slashes from his 12-inch-long hand shears. Then Mr. Depp would spend 45 minutes in wardrobe being sewn into Edward's be-ringed black-leather body suit, and an hour with the hairdresser to create Edward's wild black Medusa locks.

Some of those who have sent Mr. Depp post-"Scissorhands" scripts recently "think I want to do Edward forever," he said. "They try for the same kind of naive, innocent character. But you have to move on. Of course, I would love to Edward HIMSELF again -- with Winona. But there's no talk of a sequel."

Mr. Depp said that he was not exclusively looking for another film with Ms. Ryder, "but I would love to work with her again," he said. "You know, do that Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn thing."

Love's Professional Advantages

It was not competitive, or stressful, to work with her, Mr. Depp added. "The fact that we were together, and in love, only fueled what was going on between the characters of Edward and Kim," he said. "The chemistry between us was even better for that."

He and Ms. Ryder have come to "no decision on the marriage thing," he said, referring to a wedding date. "We both want to be in a position where after we get married, it would be nice to take a year off and just span the globe, get away for a long time, and then come back to work."

Ms. Ryder had been scheduled to take the part of Michael Corleone's daughter in "The Godfather Part III" during filming in Rome. "Winona had just done 'Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael' and 'Edward' and 'Mermaids,'" said Mr. Depp, who accompanied her on the "Godfather" trip. "She got to Rome completely exhausted, and she had an upper respiratory infection. She was, physically, really sick. The production's own doctor told her she shouldn't work -- to go away." The part went to Sofia Coppola.

He sighed theatrically. "What a way to see Italy."

Possibilites of Producing

Mr. Depp has a multi-picture development deal with Fox, "meaning I have a production company with my brother Danny, and we try to find material to do," he said. "If I find something I like, and they say yes, I get to produce it and see what that side of it is like."

So these days he is "reading like a maniac," he said. "I want to find something I feel good and passionate about."

As Mr. Depp reads script after script, he knows he must soon COMMIT. "You want to go for the right choice," he said. "You want to stay true to yourself. You want to stay true to the thing you do."

He laughed. "But then, the MONEY," he said. "The MONEY they offer you out in the land of tinsel and opportunity! To do things that are, some of them, abysmal. There is really a devil on the one side, the angel on the other. Right now, the angel is winning." He sighed. "But every day I say to myself -- no, three times a day -- what role could possibly equal Edward?"

His Impending Death

Nevertheless, Mr. Depp has made a small but definite decision about what film audience will see him in first. It will be the next installment of "Nightmare on Elm Street." "I did a cameo role," Mr. Depp said. "Half a day of work -- I can't say who I play, but I WILL say that I DO die." He laughed. "You can say it's a subtle statement on my situation on 'Jump Street.'"

Mr. Depp took the cameo because he got his big movie break in the very first "Nightmare on Elm Street," where he played the role of Glen, the kid across the street who was digested by a bed. Horribly.

At the moment Mr. Depp is not considering a career on the boards. "I've never done any stage work," he said. "Ive thought about it, but that's about all I've done. But look, I'll probably be during Burt Reynold dinner theater some day. Neil Simon, perhaps."

And how does Mr. Depp see the great sweep of his future? "I still have the leather suit, and the hands," Mr. Depp said with a laugh. "At least I have something to fall back on. If things don't work out, in a couple of years I may be doing birthday parties at McDonald's -- as Edward. You know, 200 bucks a party."