Greetings, and welcome to the Johnny Depp Archive, my tribute to the finest actor of his generation. Honest. Below you'll find links to almost all of Johnny's films (I know, I know, I still haven't done bloody Platoon...) , but first, a bit about the man himself...
Once upon a time in Hollywood
John Christopher Depp II was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, on 9th June 1963. His first big acting break came in 1984, when he starred in Wes Craven's seminal horror flick, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Whilst it was the TV cop show 21 Jump Street which catapulted him to fame, it was his role as Cry-Baby Walker in John Waters' take on the Romeo and Juliet theme, Cry-Baby (1990) which really showed what he could do.
This was the first film I saw him in and was won over instantly: as the jailbait teen (with Iggy Pop for an adopted father, Rikki Lake for a sister and porn star Traci Lords as a friend... and I think I have problems) who falls in love with the beautiful girl from the posh part of town, his performance is imbued with the kind of wiry energy and youthful intensity that made James Dean so great. We rented this video endlessly in the summer of 1990 and although last time I saw the film it did seem, well, a bit daft, when you're a teenager it's the business.
Cry-Baby was quickly followed by his first collaboration with über-goth Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands, a wonderful film which seemed to set the trend for all his movie choices, as he came to excel at playing off-beat, quirky characters, loners, drug-addicts, gypsies and weirdos, usually with more than a touch of the dark side about them. On paper many of his characters seem unsympathetic until brought to life by the magic Depp touch: think Ichabod Crane, The Ninth Gate's Dean Corso or his scene stealing role as Agent Sands in Once Upon A Time In Mexico. A traditional romantic lead he ain't: probably the most beautiful man in the world, he's sported bucky teeth, shaggy mullets, scissors for hands and enough dodgy facial furniture to house the Hogwarts owls (and let's not even start on the hats... and that's just at the premieres!) but he still can't escape those devastating good looks.
Don Juan Depp
He's dated some of the most beautiful women in the world, including Winona Ryder (everyone knows the story of the 'Winona Forever' tattoo which now reads simply 'Wino Forever'), Twin Peaks' Sherilyn Fenn and Kate Moss, who had to check into the Priory to recover from their break up (well, wouldn't you?), but is now happily settled with French star Vanessa Paradis (who went to school with my French exchange, so hey, we're practically related...). The couple have two children, Lily and Jack, and it would appear that the wild man of the movies (River Phoenix died outside his LA club The Viper Room, don't forget) has finally been tamed. Now resident in France (when he's not jetting around the world filming of course), he's proved himself to be a true European at heart. As well as speaking fluent French, his contributions to British culture include laying down a few licks on an Oasis album, appearing on The Fast Show and, er, thinking Jade should win Big Brother. Yup, there's only one thing you can predict about Johnny Depp: he'll always be unpredictable.
Sailing on
After a couple of years resting and enjoying quality time with his family, he's now back with a vengeance. His riotous performance as Keith Richards playing Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Carribbean has garnered him awards left, right and centre, whilst he wiped everyone else off the screen in Once Upon A Time In Mexico, the final instalment in Robert Rodriguez' El Mariachi trilogy.
Johnny's new found domesticity has perhaps informed some of his recent film choices: his daughter is delighted that her dad is now a pirate and probably had something to do with his decision to play Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Eat your heart out, Gene Wilder...
But with a plethora of films in the pipeline, including playing infamous 1930s gangster John Dillinger in Michael Mann's Public Enemies and plunging once more into the crazy world of Hunter S Thompson in The Rum Diary, Johnny looks as if he'll be sailing the Hollywood seas for a good long while yet...
So, enough chat from me: on to the films...
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
