Johnny Depp always has been one of our favorite and best actors but even he remembers his bad reputation. While we doing our interview a tray of glasses was dropped in another room with a loud crash. Johnny laughed and said You saw me here. I couldnt have done it! Im going to get blamed for that.
Even just using his voice in the stop-motion animated Corpse Bride, the power of Depp comes through.
Corpse Bride is set in a 19th-century European village and follows the story of Victor [Johnny Depp], a young man whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride [Helena Bonham Carter]. While his real bride, Victoria [Emily Watson], waits bereft in the land of the living.
Check out the official site for Tim Burtons Corpse Bride
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you get into the character of a puppet?
Johnny Depp: I had the great luxury that when I arrived to do the recording Victor was standing there and so I got to meet the puppets. They were beautiful and really inspiring.
DRE: Did you think of anything specific when creating Victors voice?
JD: No, not particularly. I was just trying to save my own ass for being ill prepared. I didnt realize that we were going to be doing the recording while I was shooting Wonka. Tim [Burton] was so helpful as he always is. He's a character that's not so far away other characters that I've played in the past for Tim like Edward Scissorhands because hes a little bit of an outsider. A bumbling, deeply insecure nervous character. A lot like me in life.
DRE: Did you identify with Victor?
JD: Yeah, feeling like a failure, feeling inept, unable to be understood. That's a pretty consistent theme in a lot of people's lives. But it's like Victor represented, in the same way that Scissorhands did, that emotion of not quite feeling comfortable in life. It's that universal emotion of growing up that we all drag around with us for the rest of our days.
DRE: What did you think of the final film, Corpse Bride?
JD: Honestly, it's the first time that I was able to watch a movie that I was involved in that I didn't hate because I felt a distance. I felt the character.
DRE: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is your biggest hit since the Pirates of the Caribbean, whats your reaction to that?
JD: I've learned to condition myself to not have any expectations in terms of box office because as you well know that kind of thing escaped me for many years. So it's relatively a new experience to have more than a few people go and see my films, but it's very exciting. But literally that whole part of the process is so foreign to me and so distant that just two or three weeks ago, I called my agent Tracy [Jacobs] and said, Is Charlie doing okay? She said, Yeah. It looks like it's going to cross the $200 million mark domestically. I said, Well, is that good? She said, Yeah, it's very good. Don't worry.
DRE: How has this huge bump in popularity changed things for you?
JD: I've noticed a bit of a change and I've noticed certainly a change in the attitude towards me from the upper echelon of the industry which is pretty interesting. For example every time that Tim [Burton] wanted to cast me in his films he had to fight like a bastard with the studio to be able to do so. The funny thing was he sat down with the Warner Bros people and they said, What do you think of Johnny for Wonka? Tim said that he was like, Yeah, okay. Good. So the fact that they brought it up surprised him.
DRE: Will you work together more in the future?
JD: I hope so. It's all up to him whether he gives me the job. Working with Tim is really like going home for me. It's this place that's very comfortable even with the knowledge that there's a lot of risks that have to be taken so you have to really be prepared to explore. But there is great comfort and safety there.
DRE: Have you asked him to direct something you wanted to do?
JD: No, I haven't done that yet. But aside from Scissorhands, which was kind of a general meeting, I get these mysterious phone calls out of nowhere after months or even years. Where he'll say, What are you doing? Nothing. I'm just hanging around. Can you meet me for dinner next week? Sure. Where? New York. Okay. Okay. I'll see you then. It's always been like that.
DRE: Your recent roles have all been major transformations, do you want to play something closer to yourself?
JD: No, any actor with any semblance of sanity or insanity, biggest fear is to go anywhere near who you are. It's okay to use certain truths. I've kind of touched on it here and there with character type parts like the upcoming The Libertine. More than anything I'm interested in exploring one area and then saying, Alright. That's territory covered. Lets see what happens next and where I can go next. But I do have that voice of Marlon [Brando] reverberating in there. One time he said to me, How many films do you do a year? I said, I don't know. Two or three. He said, You've got to watch yourself because we only have so many faces in our pocket. You get to a certain point and you've played all these different characters you start going, My God, he really was right. But I don't know. One of the joys of the gig is that you get to observe people and by observing people you find these little traits, these interesting little things that people do and you go, Oh, I'll have a bit of that. I'll have a bit of that. Then you just store it up and save it for later because you'll never know when you'll need it.
DRE: Is it difficult to observe people now with your fame at a peak?
JD: Yeah and thats the rub. That's one of the occupational hazards because you want to be the observer and then suddenly you walk into a room and everyone goes, Isn't that that guy? What's his name? That's one of the dangers, but there are still ways to do it. You can still kind of do it from afar. What's fascinating for me is the idea that you can watch the straightest laced super conservative couple in the world having a meal or whatever and if you watch them for long enough you'll realize that they're absolutely insane. It's really fascinating.
DRE: Whats the most important form of validation in your career?
JD: The thing for me that's most touching is the couple of the people who have stuck with me since the early days. One being my agent, Tracy Jacobs. She really believed in me when no one else did. When they wouldn't even look at me Tracy was always there. I didn't believe in me and she did. But more than anything, it's those kids outside the movie theater, who go and watch these things and who have stuck with me on a very long, lengthy, strange, bumpy road. That's what means the most. They're the people who keep me employed. I kind of look at them like they're my boss.
DRE: Have your kids seen your recent films?
JD: Jack was real little when Pirates came out. He was sort of in the Neanderthal stage. Lily-Rose was there and she loved it. It's interesting because they had come on the set of Pirates so they were used to seeing papa as this weird, greasy, pirate guy and then when they knew that I was going to be playing Willy Wonka they were of course very excited about it because they knew the original film with Gene Wilder. My daughter is pretty familiar with the book as well. So they came to visit me on the set and they walked into my trailer and there I was decked out in the top hat and the Prince Valiant hairdo and the cha-cha heels and the eyes and the teeth and the rubber gloves. They just froze and stared at me for what felt like an eternity, about two minutes. Then they got over it and wanted to try everything on. I was so scared when they were going to see Charlie, way more than the idea of being reviewed by a movie critic. I was so in fear that my kids were going to not react well to the film. So I was sitting at home waiting for them to come back and they arrived back and Jack, walks in and looks up at me and quoted Wonka. He went, You're really weird. [Laughs] I felt suddenly liberated.
DRE: What made you want to return to the character of Captain Jack Sparrow?
JD: What happens to me is that once you've clicked into that character and you really know the guy you become very close and you love him. So it's always very difficult at the end. There is that week to ten days before wrap where you can hear the clock ticking and then you go through a really nasty kind of depression afterwards. There's an odd separation anxiety because you've just been this person for a pretty good length of time and then they're suddenly gone. For me, with Captain Jack, I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd see him again, and when they said, We'd like to do two and three together.' I was all for it because I wanted selfishly to be the guy again.
DRE: What was the most intense experience with that feeling?
JD: Sometime the separation is more emotional than others. I remember the last day of Scissorhands after 89 days and we did the makeup I looked into the mirror and thought, Well, this is it. This is the last time I'll see you. So it becomes very emotional. It's a weird, weird thing. I dont think that it's normal and I don't think that it's particularly good for you. But it's what I got.
DRE: Do you think youll ever get back to Terry Gilliams Don Quixote movie?
JD: He keeps threatening that. I really hope that there's a way to salvage that because when we were there it was like the best of Terry Gilliam. It was really going to be a good film. Unfortunately there was that hideous curse on it. I hope so. I'd certainly get back into the ring and do that one. I'm sure that Vanessa [Paradis] would too.
DRE: Have you worked with Keith Richards yet on the new Pirates movies?
JD: No, it's not totally official yet. Everyone is trying. He's got a little tour to do.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Even just using his voice in the stop-motion animated Corpse Bride, the power of Depp comes through.
Corpse Bride is set in a 19th-century European village and follows the story of Victor [Johnny Depp], a young man whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride [Helena Bonham Carter]. While his real bride, Victoria [Emily Watson], waits bereft in the land of the living.
Check out the official site for Tim Burtons Corpse Bride
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you get into the character of a puppet?
Johnny Depp: I had the great luxury that when I arrived to do the recording Victor was standing there and so I got to meet the puppets. They were beautiful and really inspiring.
DRE: Did you think of anything specific when creating Victors voice?
JD: No, not particularly. I was just trying to save my own ass for being ill prepared. I didnt realize that we were going to be doing the recording while I was shooting Wonka. Tim [Burton] was so helpful as he always is. He's a character that's not so far away other characters that I've played in the past for Tim like Edward Scissorhands because hes a little bit of an outsider. A bumbling, deeply insecure nervous character. A lot like me in life.
DRE: Did you identify with Victor?
JD: Yeah, feeling like a failure, feeling inept, unable to be understood. That's a pretty consistent theme in a lot of people's lives. But it's like Victor represented, in the same way that Scissorhands did, that emotion of not quite feeling comfortable in life. It's that universal emotion of growing up that we all drag around with us for the rest of our days.
DRE: What did you think of the final film, Corpse Bride?
JD: Honestly, it's the first time that I was able to watch a movie that I was involved in that I didn't hate because I felt a distance. I felt the character.
DRE: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is your biggest hit since the Pirates of the Caribbean, whats your reaction to that?
JD: I've learned to condition myself to not have any expectations in terms of box office because as you well know that kind of thing escaped me for many years. So it's relatively a new experience to have more than a few people go and see my films, but it's very exciting. But literally that whole part of the process is so foreign to me and so distant that just two or three weeks ago, I called my agent Tracy [Jacobs] and said, Is Charlie doing okay? She said, Yeah. It looks like it's going to cross the $200 million mark domestically. I said, Well, is that good? She said, Yeah, it's very good. Don't worry.
DRE: How has this huge bump in popularity changed things for you?
JD: I've noticed a bit of a change and I've noticed certainly a change in the attitude towards me from the upper echelon of the industry which is pretty interesting. For example every time that Tim [Burton] wanted to cast me in his films he had to fight like a bastard with the studio to be able to do so. The funny thing was he sat down with the Warner Bros people and they said, What do you think of Johnny for Wonka? Tim said that he was like, Yeah, okay. Good. So the fact that they brought it up surprised him.
DRE: Will you work together more in the future?
JD: I hope so. It's all up to him whether he gives me the job. Working with Tim is really like going home for me. It's this place that's very comfortable even with the knowledge that there's a lot of risks that have to be taken so you have to really be prepared to explore. But there is great comfort and safety there.
DRE: Have you asked him to direct something you wanted to do?
JD: No, I haven't done that yet. But aside from Scissorhands, which was kind of a general meeting, I get these mysterious phone calls out of nowhere after months or even years. Where he'll say, What are you doing? Nothing. I'm just hanging around. Can you meet me for dinner next week? Sure. Where? New York. Okay. Okay. I'll see you then. It's always been like that.
DRE: Your recent roles have all been major transformations, do you want to play something closer to yourself?
JD: No, any actor with any semblance of sanity or insanity, biggest fear is to go anywhere near who you are. It's okay to use certain truths. I've kind of touched on it here and there with character type parts like the upcoming The Libertine. More than anything I'm interested in exploring one area and then saying, Alright. That's territory covered. Lets see what happens next and where I can go next. But I do have that voice of Marlon [Brando] reverberating in there. One time he said to me, How many films do you do a year? I said, I don't know. Two or three. He said, You've got to watch yourself because we only have so many faces in our pocket. You get to a certain point and you've played all these different characters you start going, My God, he really was right. But I don't know. One of the joys of the gig is that you get to observe people and by observing people you find these little traits, these interesting little things that people do and you go, Oh, I'll have a bit of that. I'll have a bit of that. Then you just store it up and save it for later because you'll never know when you'll need it.
DRE: Is it difficult to observe people now with your fame at a peak?
JD: Yeah and thats the rub. That's one of the occupational hazards because you want to be the observer and then suddenly you walk into a room and everyone goes, Isn't that that guy? What's his name? That's one of the dangers, but there are still ways to do it. You can still kind of do it from afar. What's fascinating for me is the idea that you can watch the straightest laced super conservative couple in the world having a meal or whatever and if you watch them for long enough you'll realize that they're absolutely insane. It's really fascinating.
DRE: Whats the most important form of validation in your career?
JD: The thing for me that's most touching is the couple of the people who have stuck with me since the early days. One being my agent, Tracy Jacobs. She really believed in me when no one else did. When they wouldn't even look at me Tracy was always there. I didn't believe in me and she did. But more than anything, it's those kids outside the movie theater, who go and watch these things and who have stuck with me on a very long, lengthy, strange, bumpy road. That's what means the most. They're the people who keep me employed. I kind of look at them like they're my boss.
DRE: Have your kids seen your recent films?
JD: Jack was real little when Pirates came out. He was sort of in the Neanderthal stage. Lily-Rose was there and she loved it. It's interesting because they had come on the set of Pirates so they were used to seeing papa as this weird, greasy, pirate guy and then when they knew that I was going to be playing Willy Wonka they were of course very excited about it because they knew the original film with Gene Wilder. My daughter is pretty familiar with the book as well. So they came to visit me on the set and they walked into my trailer and there I was decked out in the top hat and the Prince Valiant hairdo and the cha-cha heels and the eyes and the teeth and the rubber gloves. They just froze and stared at me for what felt like an eternity, about two minutes. Then they got over it and wanted to try everything on. I was so scared when they were going to see Charlie, way more than the idea of being reviewed by a movie critic. I was so in fear that my kids were going to not react well to the film. So I was sitting at home waiting for them to come back and they arrived back and Jack, walks in and looks up at me and quoted Wonka. He went, You're really weird. [Laughs] I felt suddenly liberated.
DRE: What made you want to return to the character of Captain Jack Sparrow?
JD: What happens to me is that once you've clicked into that character and you really know the guy you become very close and you love him. So it's always very difficult at the end. There is that week to ten days before wrap where you can hear the clock ticking and then you go through a really nasty kind of depression afterwards. There's an odd separation anxiety because you've just been this person for a pretty good length of time and then they're suddenly gone. For me, with Captain Jack, I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd see him again, and when they said, We'd like to do two and three together.' I was all for it because I wanted selfishly to be the guy again.
DRE: What was the most intense experience with that feeling?
JD: Sometime the separation is more emotional than others. I remember the last day of Scissorhands after 89 days and we did the makeup I looked into the mirror and thought, Well, this is it. This is the last time I'll see you. So it becomes very emotional. It's a weird, weird thing. I dont think that it's normal and I don't think that it's particularly good for you. But it's what I got.
DRE: Do you think youll ever get back to Terry Gilliams Don Quixote movie?
JD: He keeps threatening that. I really hope that there's a way to salvage that because when we were there it was like the best of Terry Gilliam. It was really going to be a good film. Unfortunately there was that hideous curse on it. I hope so. I'd certainly get back into the ring and do that one. I'm sure that Vanessa [Paradis] would too.
DRE: Have you worked with Keith Richards yet on the new Pirates movies?
JD: No, it's not totally official yet. Everyone is trying. He's got a little tour to do.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 24 of 24 COMMENTS
*crosses fingers* I do hope that Keith Richards will be in Pirates, then I can make my dad watch a movie with Johnny Depp in it. He always makes fun of me for liking him