Johnny Depp: ‘I’m not remotely close to being normal’-James Mottram-Entertainment – Metro

Johnny Depp is back in cinemas as King Louis XV, but will he become the king of comebacks? (Picture: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

‘I’ve been scrutinised since I was 23 years old. Now I’m kicking 60 in the ass. That’s a long time!’

Johnny Depp, one of world’s most famous faces, is relaxing – adorned with tattoos and silver rings – on a hotel rooftop on the French Riviera. He’s conversational, friendly and refreshingly honest.

‘I’ve been very lucky and I can’t complain about anything. None of it. I won’t,’ he says.

But fame does funny things to a man. ‘The thing hits you and then you can’t go anywhere without people looking at you. And that’s a very interesting way to grow up. But after 38 years of something like that…’

He trails off for a second, collecting his thoughts. ‘The first thing that’s really mad is to expect anyone who’s lived in that kind of situation to be anything remotely close to normal.

‘Now, to make matters worse,
I wasn’t normal before that. So I’ve had to adapt my world into the way that I have to live. How do I live? I live behind windows. I live behind car windows, train windows, plane windows, hotel room windows… f***ing windows!

Johnny has been in the public eye for 38 years, and he admits it’s taken a bit of a toll (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)

Johnny first came to prominence aged 23 as Tom Hanson in 21 Jump Street (Picture: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)

With the release of Depp’s new movie, Jeanne Du Barry, the word ‘comeback’ is on everyone’s lips.

Certainly, it’s a treacherous period of his career, following the ugly fallout around his marriage to former wife Amber Heard.

In 2020, he lost a libel case against The Sun newspaper, which branded him a ‘wife beater’.

Dropped from the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, he’s been persona non grata in Hollywood ever since.

For the past few years, though, he has found work in European cinema – films such as Waiting For The Barbarians, Minamata and now Jeanne Du Barry.

When French director Maïwenn asked him to play King Louis XV, opposite her turn as the ruler’s last mistress, Jeanne, Depp says his thought process went something like this: ‘Haven’t done this before. There’s a possibility of total failure. I could fall flat on my face. I like it! It’s what
I should do.’

The actor has been dealing with the fallout of his marriage to Amber Heard, and the legal battle that followed against The Sun (Picture: John Phillips/UK Press via Getty Images)

French director Maïwenn asked him to play King Louis XV (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

He was surprised he was invited to play such an iconic figure in French history (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

Speaking his role in French, learned from his time with singer-actress Vanessa Paradis – the mother of his children, Lily-Rose and Jack – Depp dug in.

‘I was in the trenches with Maïwenn and the rest of the crew,’ he says. ‘I did the best I could. I did what I felt was right for the character, and for the story and for Maïwenn. So if it works, I’m a lucky motherf***er, really lucky.’

Now 60, Depp was surprised he was invited to play such an iconic figure in French history. ‘Actually, when we met, I asked Maïwenn, “Are you sure you don’t want a French actor?”’

The film is a fine balance of drama with comedy, not least when every courtier shuffles backwards as they leave the room, because no one is allowed to turn their back on King Louis.

‘He was a complicated guy. I thought it was important to start defining the character, showing he was not, as they say, completely “feather in the ass”,’ says Depp. ‘There was a humanity to him. It’s as if… his appendix burst and suddenly everything changed.’

The film marks a rare period piece for Depp, unless you count the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise in which he played Jack Sparrow.

Johnny split from his French wife Vanessa Paradis in 2012 (Credits: AP)

Jeanne Du Barry is Depp’s first period film since the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise (Picture: Greg Gorman/Walt Disney/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

Shooting in France’s dramatic Palace of Versailles was a major plus, he says.

‘When you’re walking through Versailles and you hear in the distance the din, the murmur – the people, the extras – and then you turn the corner and you’re in a mirrored corridor, and suddenly it’s time travel. It was quite shocking but oddly it was never uncomfortable. It felt like home.’

Is it any wonder he felt like a king? For much of his career, Depp
has experienced what it’s like to
be revered.

‘By and large, for the majority of the years I’ve been wandering around aimlessly talking to people, they really want the same thing,’ he says.

‘They don’t want to be fed dreck. They’re happy when they experience something new or different. So that’s why I’ve always felt, as an actor, it’s your responsibility. When you come out of the gate each time… you’re putting as much at stake as anybody.’

Given he hasn’t worked in Hollywood for years – ‘they threw me in the bin’ – Depp isn’t fussed about ripping into the studio heads.

Johnny isn’t fussed when ripping into Hollywood studio heads (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

‘They’re disposable and they realise it. Glorified accountants who have the ability to press the green light and make studio films… but they press the green light, they spent s***loads of money. Budgets are ridiculous on these films… some romantic comedy with two very popular people. People – the real people – they’re sick of it.’

Whether they will ever get to see Depp again in a big studio movie is another matter.

Jeanne Du Barry is out in cinemas from today

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