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OK Magazine (U.S. Version) - May 8, 2006

Captain Jack is Back!
by Rob Chilton
Donated by Deppraved

The May 8, 2006 issue of OK Magazine (U.S. version) has four pages of Johnny! Much of it is beautiful color photos - nothing new as far as the photos are concerned, but there is a full page color close-up of Johnny in his black suit and red shirt from the Golden Globe Awards. It's really stunning!

The interview by Rob Chilton asks mostly a lot of the same old questions that he always get asked, but there are some new ones including the interviewer asking Johnny point-blank if Vanessa is pregnant. Johnny dances around the question a bit with an answer that seems sort of both a "No" and a "Maybe" and an "I don't know."

Anyway, I'll type out the entire interview first. Then after that, there are some smaller inset text boxes with other information, so those will be at the end. Here's the interview:

Captain Jack Sparrow is Back!
Johnny Depp
Living in Hollywood is not for this actor - he explains what keeps him on the go

(Big photo of Capt. Jack and Will from POTC 1 with the caption: Double hunk quotient continues, with Orlando Bloom returning in the next two Pirates flicks as well.)

Excitement is building as the first of two sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl draws near. One person who can't wait to see the finished product is the man at the center of the raucous movies: Johnny Depp. Here, in a candid interview, the 42-year-old chameleon talks about the joy of playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the second installment, Dead Man's Chest, out in July. Johnny also opens up about his quiet life in France with his partner, Vanessa Paradis, and their two children, Lily-Rose, nearly seven, and Jack, who just turned four.

Q: What's going to be different with Captain Jack in the next two films? JD: In parts two and three, you'll see a couple of new layers of Captain Jack. You get to see him in situations that he's unable to talk his way out of. There's some fun stuff there.

Q: What made you come back for the sequels? JD: One reason only: Captain Jack. It was selfishly just the opportunity to play Captain Jack again. Some people could say "Well, Depp sold out." I don't believe that I have. It certainly wasn't my intention to sell out. I wanted to play Captain Jack again because he's so much fun to play and I think that there's so much more to explore with that character. I'd keep going. It they wanted me to do Pirates VII, why not?

Q: Do you let your kids see your movies? JD: Some of them, yeah. But others, hell, I'm not sure I'm ready for them sometimes! They did see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which made me very nervous. I was scared that they were going to come home and say, "Hey, Dad, better luck next time." But they came home quoting it, which was really nice.

Q: Do they understand what you do? JD: I think they understand that it's Papa's work. They don't find anything fascinating about it other than that Daddy gets to make believe for a living. For them it's normal.

Q: Does being a father help you add depth to your roles? JD: Yeah, being a father does help add depth, texture and all kinds of wonderful things to my roles. Being a father affects every aspect of your personal life, working life, everything.

Q: Is there anything about fatherhood that you'd change? JD: I'm a little disappointed that my kids are growing out of the Teletubbies and The Wiggles, because I want to continue watching them!

Q: Is it true that Vanessa is expecting another child? JD: Not that I know of. It's possible. I think it's just a rumor. I'd surround myself with them if I could, but I have the easier part of the job, don't I?

Q: What's the secret to your long-lasting relationship with Vanessa? JD: We have a miraculous understanding of one another and we don't ever talk about the business. We don't talk about her work or my work. In that sense our life is very, very simple. We are great, great friends and we're in love.

Q: What do you dream of for your children? JD: As any parent, my wish for my kids is a perfect life, perfect happiness and perfect health - perfect everything.

Q: What was your dream as a child? JD: When I was a kid, I had a lot of dreams. I wanted to be everything from Evel Knievel to the first white Harlem Globetrotter - I'm still trying! Then I wanted to play guitar, and now I'm here doing this, acting.

Q: How did moving around a lot as a child affect you? JD: We lived such a nomadic existence when I was a kid. We literally moved houses 30 to 35 times by the time I was 15 or 16. That has had a great effect on who I am today, which is why me, my kids and my girl don't stay in one place too long. We've got to keep on moving.

Q: You've got your own Caribbean hideaway, haven't you? JD: Yeah, we've got a little place down there. It's a dream come true. You walk around and you can't believe you're there.

Q: How do you go about making a character your own? JD: I don't know. I think with any character it comes from some place of truth within you. It's weird. When I read a script I get images. With Captain Jack, Keith {Richards, from the Rolling Stones} became the inspiration because I was thinking of pirates as the rock stars of their time.

Q: Keith Richards describes his art as pulling a song down out of the sky. Is that how you find your characters? JD: As long as I can observe people, I feel like I'm able to store these gems and stuff that people give me, or that I steal. There was a moment years back when I was having a conversation with good old Marlon Brando, bless him. He said, "How many movies do you do a year?" I said, "Sometimes two. Sometimes three." He said, "You have to watch yourself. Because we only have so many faces in our pockets." Later I realized how right he was. He was very, very wise.

Q: Is there any of yourself in the parts you play? JD: With any character you play, you have to bring as much of yourself - as much of your own truth - to the character as possible, and then make an ass of yourself doing it! It's kind of therapeutic to go in and make an ass of yourself and be paid for it.

Q: How has commercial success changed things for you? JD: I've never had any allergy to the idea of commercial success. It hasn't changed my - and here's an oxymoron for you - work ethic. I've been very, very lucky in my life that I've worn many hats - literally. I've done everything from selling ink pens over the telephone to screen-printed T-shirts. I worked in construction, I was a musician, I was a busboy. I've had a great deal of luck in this business. I'm together enough to know that if the ride is going smoothly and everything is peachy keen this week, that all that could evaporate next week.

Q: When you started out, did you dream of becoming a famous actor? JD: To be honest with you, I never expected to last this long in this racket. I always figured - I always expected - that I'd go back to playing guitar, pumping gas long before now. It could still happen, because frankly I think it's a miracle that I still even get jobs.

(End of Interview)

Photos with the article:

Small photo of Johnny and Keira stuck on the island from POTC 1 with the caption: He's back on screen with Keira Knightley in the sequel.

Photo of Johnny and Vanessa at the Mont Blanc event in Geneva with the caption: Johnny and Vanessa Paradis have two kids together, but are not married.

Older photo of Johnny with a loaded shopping cart and Lily-Rose sitting in the kiddie seat outside the store on the sidewalk; an inset photo of Vanessa walking in the mall in L.A. with both kids, holding their hands. The caption for both says: The actor admits that fatherhood has changed him.

Photo of Johnny with his hands in cement at the ceremony in Hollywood with the TOTALLY INCORRECT caption: A worthy achievement: Johnny receives his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (They didn't use a photo from the Walk of Fame; they used a photo from the hand and footprint ceremony!)

Small photo of Johnny and Keith Richards backstage at a Stones concert in 1998. Johnny's hair is short and he has blonde tips like in Astronaut's Wife.

There's an inset box with the photo from Don Juan DeMarco of Johnny, Marlon and Faye in costume. Here's the text that goes along with that:
The Most Important Thing I've Learned About Acting
"I've learned to always be prepared, ever since Marlon Brando asked me to come to Ireland to do a scene in Divine Rapture. I asked him whether I could read the script first, but he told me that there was no need - that I should just turn up on the day and do it. So I did! I turned up on the Friday and the next day I met the director, who asked me, 'How's the accent going?' I was like, 'What accent?' I was meant to play a Dublin reporter. So I had about 24 hours to learn a Dublin accent! That was one of Marlon Brando's great practical jokes, which taught me a valuable lesson." Another caption under the photo says: Divine Rapture was never completed, but Johnny worked with Marlon and Faye Dunaway earlier in Don Juan DeMarco.

There's also a half page inset box called "The Weird and Wonderful Career of Johnny Depp" and it has photos from Edward Scissorhands, From Hell, Ed Wood, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Sleepy Hollow, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The caption with it is a quote from Johnny: "It might be a good or a bad thing, but all my characters are still in there! {taps head} All these guys aren't that far from the surface, so getting to them is like opening or closing a drawer." ****