Wonderful thread! I just stood up for His Majesty, Johnny Depp, the other night and was so bold as to say, “Johnny Depp is the last decent actor out there.” Everyone I was with thought I was crazy. Apparently, movies are becoming such shit that no talent ass-clowns like Keanu Reeves can be viewed as good actors. Interesting.
Long live Johnny Depp!
Wonderful comments, Deathstatic. I heartily agree.
I’ve posted to this thread far too many times, but found I have at least 2 more comments -
Regarding Depp’s “Gilbert Grape” movie. I watched it recently right after a second trip to “Pirates”. Besides showing what range he has, Mr. Depp blew me away when his character, when asked what he wants for himself, says “I want to be a good person”. How many actors could pull that line off so well. And my heart breaks when his character says, when everything is closing in on him “I got no place to go.” Amazingly, in interviews, JD says he had a horrible time making that film, being in a bad place personally, & was surprised when Director Hallstrom wanted to work with him again on Chocalat.
As to the blow up with Entertainment Tonight mentioned in a post above, well don’t I wish the media would just focus on the acting…& do we really care what ET has to say? Depp probably said something easily misquoted or miscontrued that ET then reported. I would hate to have to watch what I say so carefully, as all celebs must. but that’s probably another thread.
I think that’s all from me now.
And Junie, Girl Archivist, is on the scene to provide the cite!
Yeah, I can see how you might spin that into something less than flattering.
I’ve long appreciate Depp as an actor too, but I’ve always been impressed with his choice of roles.
He’s never taken the easy way out and relied on his good looks like a Freddy Prinze Jr. (so I’m told he’s good looking), or fallen into a genre stereotype like Keanu.
I caught him on Inside the Actors Studio and in between Lipton kissing his ass like he kisses all actors asses, I found myself impressed by Depp’s intelligence, thoughtfulness, and dedication to his craft.
He was talking about his role as Hunter S. Thompson and he didn’t just watch film of the guy and interview him a few times, he actually lived in his basement and shadowed his life for a few months. He says that it was even Hunter that shaved his head for the role.
That’s nothing but admirable.
I wish I could remember the magazine, because I’d love to cite. There was an interview with Thompson around this time. Depp, his then lady-love Kate Moss (recurring joke in Hollywood- “Kate and Johnny have made it official and she’s now wearing his engagement ring around her waist”), and Kate’s mother went to meet Thompson at his isolated Colorado ranch. There was an awkward silence (Depp’s notoriously shy and nervous around new people- he’s one of the few guests who’s still allowed to smoke on talk shows because otherwise he couldn’t get through it) when Thompson broke the ice by saying “You wanna go blow some shit up?” A few minutes later he and Depp were running around like children shooting guns at explosive caps left on various objects including a large propane reservoir. Depp described the latter’s explosion as one of the greatest moments of his life.
Regarding Gilbert Grape - I’ve always thought that Depp got way too little credit for that role and DiCaprio way too much. Playing a retarded character isn’t as hard as you might think (it’s much harder to play a subtle character than a broad one)- I thought the younger sister, mother, and Johnny were by far the best and most overlooked actors in that project.
Said I was done but here I am again:
Yeah, I can see how you might spin that into something less than flattering"
Wow, a pretty dumb thing for him to say.
Of course 95% of the things I’ve read in his interviews are smart and show great concern for his kids.
Still love his acting (and his looks, I’ve admitted it) and still debating whether to go see “Once Upon A Time in Mexico”
As for POTC, Geoffrey Rush ain’t no slouch in the game of making a bad movie tolerable. The House on Haunted Hill is an example. I find them both hypnotic. Almost enough to actually see that pianist movie Rush made or Benny and Joon or Gilbert Grape, none of which are to my taste.
Is POTC going to be a series?
Well, they are making a sequel, so yes.
Message for Dropzone, who posted recently:
If you watch those three movies, give us your opinion.