By Ruben V.
Nepales
LOS ANGELES—Over a week ago, Michael Jackson (who
passed away last Thursday) was on Johnny Depp’s mind as the actor
reflected on the crowds that follow popular celebrities like him
and the pop superstar.
Despite being
famous for many years now, Johnny seemed still genuinely
bewildered about the throngs that he attracts in his public
appearances, especially at the recent Chicago premiere and party
of “Public Enemies.”
“You don’t get
used to that kind of thing,” he said in a press con at The
Peninsula Hotel in Chicago the day after the premiere. “You can’t.
If you get used to that kind of thing, you’re insane. I understand
what it’s about … There are levels. There’s the Brad and Angelina
thing and there’s the Michael Jackson thing. From my own
perspective, that’s a lot to chew on. I don’t know how those
people live or deal with it. I just don’t leave my
house.”
The loss of
privacy and the idea of always being gawked at and mobbed (which
contributed to Michael becoming a recluse) are probably among the
reasons that Johnny’s “great fear” is not about his movies bombing
at the box-office or his popularity sliding down. He’s worried
that Lily Rose, 10, and Jack, 7, his kiddies (as he fondly calls
them) with his girlfriend, French singer-actress Vanessa Paradis,
might become actors.
When a journalist
told Johnny that the size of the mob that swarmed around him the
previous night was huge, the actor replied, “So I’m not crazy. It
was weird, right?”
In Michael Mann’s
crime-drama “Public Enemies,” he plays John Dillinger, America’s
legendary bank robber in the Depression era when the public had no
sympathy for the banks that had plunged the US into financial
crisis—a story which may resonate with audiences everywhere today.
Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard co-star in the
film.
To this day,
Johnny still appears to be shy, soft-spoken, who tends to look
down and puts his fingers on his lips in a sort-of bashful
gesture. He has gained a few becoming pounds that fill his cheeks,
giving him a younger appearance.
You are
obviously interested in the balance between being an individual
and fitting into society. What do you tell your children about
this?
"My kiddies are
infinitely smarter than I am. They’ve sussed it out before I did.
I can’t leave my house so I can’t say that I can fit into society.
At this point, why should I? But my kiddies go to school functions
and whatever and I witness their life in school and with their
friends. I learn so much by just watching them behave with their
friends."
Your kids see you
in different costumes and talk in different accents for your
roles. Does that confuse them?
"The one thing I
can say is that my children are never bored (laughter). I’ve tried
out many characters on them. They respond very well."
What questions do
they ask?
"They don’t.
They’re oddly used to it. My daughter Lily Rose has just turned
10. She asks when I’m making a film, “Can I see this movie?”
Obviously, there are films like “Libertine” that she can’t see
until she’s about 60 (laughter). I don’t know when she can see
“Public Enemies.” She and Jack, my boy, watched “Edward
Scissorhands” and they were in tears."
Vanity Fair
recently came out with a cover story on you and your own Caribbean
island. How did you arrive at the decision to buy that
island?
"After doing
“Pirates 1” and “Secret Window,” I went on vacation with my
kiddies to escape. Somebody said, “By the way, there’s an island
for sale.” Truly it was and I said, “Well, let’s go see it.” I
looked at it. I walked on the island and went, “This has to be.
This must be.” So I immediately called my business manager and
said, “Please…” and that was it … It can be perceived as a luxury
and it certainly is. But it provides me with simplicity—it’s a
place where no one’s looking at you and no one’s pointing a camera
at you ..."
You tend to be
friends with rabble-rousers like Tim Burton and the late
journalist Hunter Thompson. Are you also becoming a bit
eccentric?
"I think it has
already happened (laughter)."
Do you mind the
parallel?
"I don’t mind that
sort of pathology. If a choice is to be gawked at constantly or to
sit in a dark room, I prefer the dark room."
They’re touting
Robert Pattinson as the next Johnny Depp. Do you know
him?
"I don’t. I wish
him luck (laughter)."
Most young actors
say they want a career like yours. When you were starting, did you
have a specific career plan?
"I’ve just been
very lucky. Things just arrived when they arrived. I didn’t
“sculpt” anything. I just did what I did (laughter). I was very
lucky to have people like Tim Burton supporting me when studios
like Paramount didn’t want to hire me for “Sleepy Hollow.” Tim
fought for me."
One aspect of
Dillinger that may surprise people who watch this movie is that he
was a romantic guy. He looks across a room, sees this woman and
everything in his life changes. Has the same thing happened to
you?
"I understand it
completely. I was standing in a hotel lobby in Paris about 11
years ago and I saw a back and a neck of a woman. She turned
around, looked at me and I was done. That was Vanessa. Two kiddies
and 11 years later, I do completely understand that."
How did working
in locations where some of the incidents in Dillinger’s life
actually took place help you as an actor?
"It’s everything.
That available stimulus—the idea that you can be in the exact spot
where, for example, John Dillinger took his last breath and going
to Crown Point jail and escaping from every single door that
Dillinger actually went through, it was amazing."
Did you wear
Dillinger’s actual pants in this movie? How did it
feel?
"Not in the movie
but I did try them on afterward. Weird. After the filming, I went
to the John Dillinger Museum and there were the pants that he wore
when he was killed. I thought that I might as well try them
on."
Did the pants fit
you?
"They
did."
Dillinger said
something like, “I don’t drink much and I smoke very little. I
guess my only bad habit is robbing banks.” What is your bad
habit?
"I don’t smoke
anymore. It has been two and a half years. Isn’t that good? I must
develop a bad habit. I’ll work on one."
Dillinger started
his criminal life at the age of 12.
"So did
I."
What were you up
to?
"Criminal
activities."
What were you
like at 12?
"The age of 12 was
magical for me because it was the age when I discovered the
guitar. I don’t remember anything afterward. I don’t remember
puberty. I just locked myself in a room and played the guitar. I
came out of the room when I was about 15."
So what was your
criminal activity?
"I went into a
store and found a chord book by Mel Bay that showed pictures of
fingers on a guitar neck. I slipped the book down my trousers and
I walked out of the store. That’s how I learned to play the
guitar."
What do you think
will be your legacy?
"I couldn’t
dare approach that—the idea of my legacy in the world. I don’t see
it. I’m just an actor. What I would like to do is leave something
behind that my kids could be proud of and that’s really it. I
don’t really want anything else."
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