Johnny Depp, Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow, Vanessa Paradis, Tim Burton, Public Enemies, Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands,  John Dillinger, Gregory David Roberts, Infinitum Nihil, Shantaram, Ed Wood, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka, Rum Diary, Dark Shadows, Alice in Wonderland, Nightmare on Elm Street, Platoon, Private Resort, 21 Jump Street, Cry Baby, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Arizona Dream, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Lasse Hallstrom, From Hell, The Man Who Cried, Secret Window, David Koepp, Freddy's Dead, Final Nightmare, Benny and Joon, Don Juan de Marco, Marlon Brando, Dead Man, Nick of Time, Donnie Brasco, The Brave, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas,LA Without A Map, Ninth Gate, Astronaut's Wife, Before Night Falls, Chocolat, Blow, From Hell, Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, At World's End, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Happily Ever After, Finding Neverland, The Libertine, Benjamin Barker, John Wilmot, Mort Rainey, Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, Abberline, Roux, Ichabod Crane,William Blake, Raoul Duke, Raphael, Joe Pistone, sam, joon, axel blackmar, oprah noodlemantra, Tom Hanson, Tim Burton, GoreVerbinski, Mira Nair, Emir Kosturica, Jim Jarmusch, Terry Gilliam, michael mann, Rango, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Helena Bonham Carter

Source: Stuttgarter Nachrichten (Germany), July 11 2009




Johnny Depp Likes The 30s

"Men made an effort in those days"


By Julia Manfredi



Johnny Depp: honest with himself

Hamburg - Punctuality is not JOhnny Depp's strongest point. But for someone like him, one waits gladly. In Michael Mann's "Public Enemies", he plays the legendary 1930s gangster John Diillinger, who made history as the first "Public Enemy #1".

Mister Depp, nice that you are here...

"I am sorry I'm late. Am I too late? I'm always too late. I don't seem to be able to do anything against it."

Is that a problem for you?

"I am running out of excuses. I should go in therapy."

Do you envy your character John Dillinger? He could go to a cinema, without being recognise'd.

"Of course there are certain things about my earlier life that I miss. Anonimity for instance. Just take my kids to a restaurant or Disneyland, without being gazed at from top to toe, that would be great. Dillinger sure was a bankrobber, but was able to adapt himself very well. He once actually walked into a police headquarter. He simply walked by whole lot of cops, saying "hi, how are you" to them. No problem for him."

You are living in France. Because there your aren't being pestered so often?

"However my wife and I have a home in the South of France, we actually spend most of the time in the USA, because our kids go to school there. What France offers me, is the luxury of enjoying a more simple life. It does good to get away, in order to get distance. In certain respects, it has increased my esteem for America too. "

Can you identify yourself with John Dillinger's type of masculinity?

Very much, but luckily I don't need to leave my house with two .45 colts. In the 1930s, Dillinger was the hero of the common man. In those days the banks were the enemy, and people like Edgar J. Hoover, who were worse than any criminal, were memebers of the government. He said to himself, I take what I can get, and try not to hurt anyone in the process. I admire him for that."

There are actor who play themselves. But you submerse in your roles.

"It's my task to play a person, to find his character, and to transfer him using my abilities. Doing so, I always try new things, in order not to bore my audience. Something I never did before, or something people haven't seen many times before already. That's how I define acting."

For Public Enemies, you filmed in the area where you grew up. Did you find out something about yourself and your family?

"Since little material about John Dillinger exists, at least no recordings of his voice, I listened to recordings of Dillinger's dad. When I heard his voice, things started to fall into place, and I thought: he was brought up as a farmers' son in Oak Hill, Indiana. I was born in Owensboro, Kentucky. That's about 80 miles apart from each other. And there it went click. He wasn't much different from my granddad, who drove a bus during the daytime in the 30s, and delivered moonshine at night."

Your collegue Marion Cotillard, who plays Dillinger's lover Billie Frechette, said you were very patient with her. How important is the love story for the movie?

"At a certain point, what Dillinger did to earn a living, became secondary. Billie became the center of his life. When they met, there was instantly fire between to two of them, they were made for each other. Both of them became came outsiders involuntarily. Marion was perfect for the role."

Marion Cotillard keeps telling in interviews, that while she was investigation Dillinger, erm ... found something impressive. The guy was erm, ... well equipped.

"That's right. I found out we have exactly the same size (laughs)"

She said she was afraid of the love-scenes.

"Because of that?"

No, she was embarassed, to pose nude in front of the camera. How do you handle nude-scenes yourself?

"It depends on the situation. Generally speaking it is important, that you feel comfortable with it. You don't necessarily have to show intimate zones explicitly, in order to make the film or the scene better. In short: when it had made Marion feel better, I would have worn a ski-suit."

In those days, men were still men. What is the difference with men today?

"I think, most of all the appearance. When you look at the fashion; men were wearing hats, suits, ties and coats, and they made an effort. They had a sense of individuality in those days, that we have lost. Many people dress alike and talk alike.

When you drive through the streets and hear the music coming out of the cars around you, this boom, boom -technology plays an evil game with us, and has changed us on all human levels. There was less boulevard-press in the 1930s. There was no reality-TV. That is total voyeurism. Unbelievable, the things that happen on TV today."

What made you a man?

"I am not sure I am a man (laughs). I am not the sort of person that pats his own shoulder. My motto is: be honest with yourself and the ones you love. Be kind to people and be a good father."




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