# Johnny Depp is Tonto **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683 "2008-10-13T05:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/1 "2008-10-13T05:55:21Z")
[Not sure if this is a good idea or not.](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/depp-to-play-tonto-in-new-lone-ranger-movie-13985083.html) > [@](#): > > Johnny Depp is to play sidekick Tonto in a Disney remake of The Lone Ranger. > > The Hollywood star is also set to reprise his role in Pirates Of The Caribbean and has confirmed reports that he has been cast as the Mad Hatter in a Tim Burton remake of Alice In Wonderland. Is he going to be playing it straight? Or will he just be Captain Jack Sparrow in warpaint? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/2 "2008-10-13T06:08:54Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Not sure if this is a good idea or not.Is he going to be playing it straight? Or will he just be Captain Jack Sparrow in warpaint? Neither. The thing about Johnny Depp is that he plays a completely different Johnny Depp in each of his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/3 "2008-10-13T10:51:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Neither. The thing about Johnny Depp is that he plays a completely different Johnny Depp in each of his movies. Mmm, yeah, then why put Depp in the _sidekick_ role? Depp’s a **big** ticket star these days (rumored to be pulling down $50 mil a picture), and making him the sidekick is going to put the focus of the film on Depp’s character. A _serious_ film about the Lone Ranger where the big star is the sidekick? Given Hollywood’s penchant for screwing things up, I can’t see that working. Which means they’re probably _not_ going to be playing it straight, so that means we’ll be getting a Depp like Captain Jack Sparrow (who bears more than a passing resemblance to Hunter S. Thompson and Keith Richards). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/4 "2008-10-13T11:04:26Z")
George Clooney is in talks to star as the Lone Ranger: [http://johnny-depp.org/johnny/news/entry/1404/](http://johnny-depp.org/johnny/news/entry/1404/) So Johnny Depp wouldn’t necessarily be the biggest star in the film. Tuckerfan, do you have a source for Johnny Depp making $50 million a film? That’s way more than anybody makes for a film. Getting $25 million up front is the top, I think. There may have been some cases where an actor took a percentage of the gross and ended up making $50 million or so on a film, but they weren’t promised that up front. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/5 "2008-10-13T11:04:45Z")
Hey, he wasn’t the star in _Chocolat_ and he did a great job. He almost didn’t steal it at all ;)! The only point where he makes a big gesture is one where it completely fits for the character to make one. Depp can play “sober”. I think he’s very good at doing what the director wants him to do. So long as Lone Ranger isn’t directed by Tim Burton, Depp is perfectly able to play second fiddle for whomever gets to play the Ranger without eating his theoretical “boss” out of the screen. ETA: if the Ranger is Clooney, we’re talking two guys who _both_ are perfectly able to eat up the whole screen, perfectly able to refrain from doing so, big stars with enormous pull… ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/6 "2008-10-13T11:09:29Z")
[Here’s one that says $64 mil.](http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/famecrawler/archive/2008/10/06/johnny-depp-making-64-million-for-4th-pirates-movie.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/7 "2008-10-13T15:17:26Z")
I guess I’m out of it. I hadn’t realized that top salaries had risen so much. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/8 "2008-10-13T15:29:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Hey, he wasn’t the star in _Chocolat_ and he did a great job. He almost didn’t steal it at all ;)! The only point where he makes a big gesture is one where it completely fits for the character to make one. Depp can play “sober”. > > I think he’s very good at doing what the director wants him to do. So long as Lone Ranger isn’t directed by Tim Burton, Depp is perfectly able to play second fiddle for whomever gets to play the Ranger without eating his theoretical “boss” out of the screen. > > ETA: if the Ranger is Clooney, we’re talking two guys who _both_ are perfectly able to eat up the whole screen, perfectly able to refrain from doing so, big stars with enormous pull… In _Neverland_, Johnny Depp’s J M Barrie was subtle & painfully repressed. Exactly what the movie needed. Depp as Tonto to Clooney’s Lone Ranger? Where do I line up for tickets? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/9 "2008-10-13T15:33:21Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Depp as Tonto to Clooney’s Lone Ranger? Where do I line up for tickets? Right behind me. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/10 "2008-10-13T15:43:16Z")
This sounds pretty cool if they do the premise right. One thing that’s for certain is that this will certainly be the weirdest Tonto ever portayed. Certainly won’t be the Jay Silverheels type that we’re used to. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/11 "2008-10-13T15:52:16Z")
Shouldn’t… Shouldn’t… um… Shouldn’t the actor playing Tonto be a Native American? I would have thought? -FrL- (It’s entirely possible there’s something I don’t know about either the character Tonto or the actor Johnny Depp. Normally I’d look at Wikipedia a bit before posting, but right now my internet connection takes about five minutes to load a non graphics intensive page so I honestly don’t have the patience. Apologies if this is causing a display of ignorance!) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/12 "2008-10-13T15:52:37Z")
I’ll watch anything with Depp in it, and Clooney is a bonus. I also think the relationship between the Lone Ranger and Tonto needs to be shaken up a bit, for modern audiences. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/13 "2008-10-13T15:54:20Z")
I wonder when the producers will decide to run the word “Tonto” by a Spanish translator? I thought this was a pitting of Johnny Depp and rushed in to defend him… ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/14 "2008-10-13T15:59:39Z")
I, for one, would love to see a movie about the great hero, Tonto, and his faithful paleface companion, the Lone Ranger. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/15 "2008-10-13T16:11:10Z")
The Lone Ranger is seen now as way dated and cheesy. To reinvent it would require a severely realistic setting and plot, giving him a Roland (of Dark Tower fame) kind of slant. Not quite an anti-hero exactly but a hero for our current age. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/16 "2008-10-13T16:14:10Z")
**Frylock** , Johnny Depp has some Cherokee in him but he is, by and large, a white guy. Unlike Tonto. And, Wikipedia tells me that starting in the 1980s Tonto has been portrayed more as an equal partner and less as a pidgin speaking sidekick. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/17 "2008-10-13T16:17:14Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Shouldn’t… > > Shouldn’t… um… > > Shouldn’t the actor playing Tonto be a Native American? > > I would have thought? > > -FrL- > > (It’s entirely possible there’s something I don’t know about either the character Tonto or the actor Johnny Depp. Normally I’d look at Wikipedia a bit before posting, but right now my internet connection takes about five minutes to load a non graphics intensive page so I honestly don’t have the patience. Apologies if this is causing a display of ignorance!) Depp’s got some Cherokee blood. From the [same Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Depp) I checked, this (badly worded) sentence might explain why he wants to be “Tonto.” > [@](#): > > Although, Depp has said he doesn’t know the origin of his surname, but jokes that the name translates to “idiot” in German (it is actually a minor insult meaning fool). _The Lone Ranger_ was never an accurate, sensitive depiction of the True American West. I already knew the story from radio when we moved to Texas–where we got TV! And seem to remember thinking that cowboys didn’t dress that way–all in white. They surely didn’t back in South Dakota. (Nor did they in Texas, outside the Fat Stock Show–although we didn’t live in a heavily cowboyed part of the state.) Even as kids, we joked about the giant papier-mâché rock that always represented “a grove outside town.” And loved _Mad_ artist Don Martin’s takes on the show. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/18 "2008-10-13T17:37:45Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > The Lone Ranger is seen now as way dated and cheesy. To reinvent it would require a severely realistic setting and plot, giving him a Roland (of Dark Tower fame) kind of slant. Not quite an anti-hero exactly but a hero for our current age. I don’t know anything about Dark Tower, but the movie could simply be an adaptation of the latest Lone Ranger comic book series and would work out fine. At any rate, a Clooney Ranger and Depp Tonto are going to give carpal tunnel to an entire generation of slash fic writers. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/19 "2008-10-13T17:44:46Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > George Clooney is in talks to star as the Lone Ranger: > > [http://johnny-depp.org/johnny/news/entry/1404/](http://johnny-depp.org/johnny/news/entry/1404/) Yeah, but isn’t Clooney’s “star” in a bit of a decline? (Though, I’ll admit that with Clooney in the role [though he seems a touch old to play the character], there’s a good chance it’ll be a decent film.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683/20 "2008-10-13T17:45:22Z")
I am ignorant of such things-what is the tone of the comic book series? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-depp-is-tonto/467683.md?page=2)