More Than a Face
Carmen Vivas
Dr. John Silva
English 103.2642
December 1, 2006
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A Chronology of Johnny Depp’s Life, Times and Achievements
1963:
John Christopher Depp II is born on June 9th in Owensboro, Kentucky to
parents John Christopher Depp Sr. and Betty Sue Wells. Cleopatra,
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton hits theatres,
as well as It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World a comedy directed by
Stanley Kramer comes out.
1968:
Allen Ginsberg publishes his poem collection, Planet News.
1970:
Depp’s family settles in Miramar, Florida where his mother works as a
waitress and his father works as a civil engineer. “M*A*S*H” starring
Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall releases in the U.S.
1975:
Johnny Depp is rebellious and does not enjoy school. He begins smoking
and later moves on to drugs, shoplifting and vandalism. His mother gets
him a guitar and he begins practicing in his garage. This year, Led
Zeppelin releases their album, Physical Graffiti.
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1976:
He joins a band at 13 called Flame and loses his virginity to a female fan
while still living in Florida. Though he has no interest in school, thanks to
his brother, Dan, he develops an appreciation for non-conformist writers
such as Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Elton John and Kiki Dee release
their song, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.
1978:
His parents, John Christopher Depp Sr. and Betty Sue Wells divorce.
Their divorce upsets Depp a great deal and he stuggles even more to
express himself. The Deer Hunter, starring Robert DeNiro, Christopher
Walken and Meryl Streep, comes out in theatres.
1979:
Distraught over his home life, Depp drops out of school to pursue rock
music. He plays with over 15 rock bands, one of which, “The Kids”, opens
for Iggy Pop as well as the B-52s.
1983:
He marries Lori Anne Allison on December 20th. The band and his wife
decide to move to California in the hopes of pursuing a successful music
career. While his wife works as a makeup artist he gets a job as a
telemarketer selling pens. The band he’s with, The Kids change their name
to 6 Gun Method. His wife introduces him to actor Nicholas Cage who
advises him to try acting. Actor Lou Gosset Jr. wins an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor for his role in An Officer and a Gentleman.
1984:
Depp and Lori Anne’s relationship is over, but the split is amicable. He
plays a role as a teenager, Glen Lantz, doomed to die in Wes Craven’s
horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Director Laurie Frank casts Depp
in Dummies, a short student film, where he meets actress Sherilyn Fenn.
He also continues playing with the band, 6 Gun Method. The film, The
Terminator, starring Michael Biehn, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda
Hamilton enters theatres in the U.S.
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1985:
Depp and Lori Anne Allison divorce. He also acts in the film, Private
Resort, as Jack. He begins a relationship with Sherilyn Fenn. They move
in together and later are engaged. The film, The Color Purple, starring
Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey, comes out in the U.S.
1986:
Depp lands a secondary role as a Vietnamese private translator, Private
Gator Lerner, in Oliver Stone’s war drama, Platoon. Before shooting they
go to the Philippines for training and they time away causing a rift in his
relationship with Sherilyn because they never see each other and no one is
allowed to visit the set, and they break up. He also plays a role in the film
Slow Burn. He quits 6 Gun Method. The space shuttle, Challenger,
explodes during launch, killing all seven crew members. It airs live on t.v.
1987:
He signs a five-year contract to play the lead role on the new t.v. series, 21
Jump Street. He later forms a relationship with actress Jennifer Grey, the
star of Dirty Dancing and they are engaged. Unfortunately, within a short
amount of time, due to the stress of being a teen heartthrob and being
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constantly harangued by Paparazzi, Jennifer Grey and Depp’s relationship
ends.
1989:
He’s already fed up with being a teen heartthrob and playing Hanson on
21 Jump Street and hopes the show is cancelled so that he can pursue
movies. In March Depp is visiting a friend in a hotel in Vancouver. An
argument erupts between him and the desk clerk, security is called and he
is arrested for assault and mischief. In June he goes to the NY premiere of
Great Balls of Fire and sees 17-year-old actress Winona Ryder. He feels
she is one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen. A few months
later they are introduced by a mutual friend, begin a relationship and, after
five months, Depp proposes.
1990:
He receives the lead role in John Waters’ quirky, oddball film, Cry-Baby
as bad boy Wade “Cry Baby” Walker. He plays the title role in Tim
Burton’s Edward Scissorhands also starring, his now fiancé, Winona
Ryder. He gets a tattoo showing his devotion to Winona. The tattoo says,
“Winona Forever”. Author Kurt Vonnegut publishes his novel, Hocus
Pocus.
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1991:
Depp plays the teen on television in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
1992:
During interviews with the media, Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp are
constantly asked about their relationship with each other, rather than their
work, as well as continually being followed by the Paparazzi and it takes
its toll on their relationship and they break up. He gets the “na” on his
tattoo removed so that it reads “Wino Forever”.
1993:
He acts in Arizona Dream as Axel, plays illiterate Sam in the romance,
Benny & Joon, and plays the role of Gilbert Grape, a young man
dissatisfied with the small town he lives in, in What’s Eating Gilbert
Grape. On October 31 while Depp is jamming on his guitar with Flea,
guitarist from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, actor River Phoenix collapses in
front of Depp’s club, The Viper Room. Phoenix dies of a drug overdose
before making it to the hospital. Depp shuts the club down for two weeks
and allow River Phoenix’s fans to create a shrine in front of the club.
1994:
Depp teams up with Tim Burton once again in the title role of Ed Wood, a
biopic about the cross-dressing 1950’s exploitation director of the same
name. Though he does not care for awards, he is overjoyed when actor,
Martin Landau, wins an Academy Award for his depiction of Bela Lugosi
in Ed Wood. In September he and his girlfriend, model Kate Moss, check
into The Mark Hotel in Manhattan, New York. After a heated argument
Depp angrily trashes the furniture and Roger Daltry, singer of The Who,
calls security. Depp spends the night in jail and pays close to ten thousand
dollars in fines to the hotel. Kate Moss and Johnny Depp later break up.
The film Eat Drink, Man Woman, directed by Ang Lee releases in
Taiwan.
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1995:
He portrays William Blake in the film Dead Man, plays Gene Watson, a
working father who is pulled into a murder conspiracy in Nick of Time
and also appears in Don Juan DeMarco in the role of Don Juan.
1996:
He plays a starring role in Cannes Man.
1997:
He makes his directorial debut and also stars in The Brave. The film airs at
Cannes and is not well received so it never makes it to the U.S. He also
portrays the true story of Joseph P. ‘Joe’ Pistone, an agent who goes
undercover in the mafia as Donnie Brasco in the film, Donnie Brasco.
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1998:
Depp plays a version of writer Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas. The film is based on Thompson’s novel of the same name.
Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett, wins Academy
Award for Best Picture and Best Director, Steven Spielberg.
1999:
He plays Constable Ichabod Crane in Tim Burton’s, Sleepy Hollow. He
also play astronaut Commander Spencer Armacost in The Astronaut’s
Wife, Dean Corso in The Ninth Gate and a role in The Source. He meets
Vanessa Paradis and they become a couple. In May their daughter, LilyRose Melody Depp, is born. They live in a villa in Southern France.
2000:
He plays Roux in Chocolat, and Lt. Victor in Before Night Falls.
2001:
He plays George Jung in the film Blow, Cesar in The Man Who Cried, and
Inspector Frederick Abberline in the film From Hell.
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2002:
Johnny Depp’s son, John Christopher “Jack” Depp III, is born on April
9th. He plays himself in the documentary Lost in La Mancha.
2003:
He plays Sands in Once Upon A Time In Mexico and plays the comedic,
oddball pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow, in Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black Pearl. Depp uses the Rollling Stones guitarist, Keith
Richards, as a model for his character. He also plays himself in the
documentary on Charlie Chaplin called, Charlie: The Life and
Aristophanes of Charles Chaplin and another documentary about the
gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, in Breakfast with Hunter. He
receives some backlash for an interview in the German magazine Stern,
where he comments on the war in Iraq saying, “America is dumb. It’s like
a dumb puppy.” He says his words are taken out of context. NASA
satellite completes a cosmic microwave background radiation map,
showing that the universe is around 13.7 billion years old.
2004:
He plays the Mort Rainey, a novelist on the verge of insanity in Secret
Window and Sir James Matthew Barrie in the touching Finding
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Neverland. Depp is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for
his performance in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
2005:
He lends his vocal skills to the lead character in Tim Burton’s Corpse
Bride, as well as taking on the role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and he plays John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl
of Rochester, in The Libertine. He is nominated for Academy Award for
Best Actor for his portrayal of author J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland.
2006:
Depp dons the swashbuckling garb again to play Captain Jack Sparrow in
the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. In its first three
days of release it grosses $135.5 million, smashing box office records.
Johnny Depp works with Kate Winslet again, this time in the IMAX Deep
Sea 3D.
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More Than A Face
Johnny Depp’s name brings to mind someone who is talented, creative and
serious about his quality of work. There are many actors and actresses who play
interesting roles, but Johnny Depp is one of the few who dares to be different. His choice
of roles does not stem from whether the film will become a hit, but rather with the quality
of the work itself; whether or not the character is interesting and different, whether the
plot is unique, and whether it’s going to be a challenge to play. His career can be
categorized into three stages. The first, or rather the beginning, where he did not have
much control over his work, and then began struggling to break out of the Hollywood
stereotype; the middle, where he favored the dark, sometimes scary roles and found his
niche; and the last, a decision to play roles that were more family-oriented.
His beginning years in the Hollywood engine were not the best for Johnny Depp,
at least in his opinion. His major break, after getting a part in the Wes Craven horror, A
Nightmare on Elm Street, was getting cast as Tommy Hanson, an undercover cop, on the
Fox t.v. series 21 Jump Street. Although the show was a hit, Johnny Depp felt boxed in,
and decided to break out of the image Hollywood and the tabloids had given him. This
governed his choice of the role Wade “Crybaby” Walker in the movie Crybaby. He
models this character from his stepfather who was a “greaser”, using both his behavior
and experience. This movie is one-of-a-kind in this day and age. The classic
misunderstood bad boy has not been this blatantly obvious in recent years. In an
interview he confessed he needed to “make fun of that image” that had been leveled on
because of 21 Jump Street (Johnny Depp: Biography). The movie was comically
ridiculous and helped him get noticed by director Tim Burton, who cast him in the title
role of the film Edward Scissorhands. Reviews of the movie give credit to Johnny Depp’s
performance in the role saying, “as embodied by Johnny Depp, Edward himself is a
stunning creation”(Maslin), and “Depp is perfectly cast” (Howe). His innocence as
Edward and his pure love of the heroine in the film are what drive the movie and you
easily look past his deformity of having scissors for hands. His creative talents, his ability
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to bring characters to life, as well as his being awarded a Best Actor Golden Globe
nomination now has him taken seriously as an actor with talent and not just a pretty face.
With Edward Scissorhands begins a long relationship with director Tim Burton,
and some of Depp’s most creative, comic work is done with him. He teams up with
Burton again to play another title role in Burton’s film Ed Wood. His portrayal of the
inept, cross-dressing director Ed Wood, gives him “a perpetually sunny indifference to
the plain facts of real life” (Hinson). Depp expresses Wood’s wide-eyed optimism
(Travers). This film gives him another Best Actor Golden Globe nomination, and he is
soon cemented as a serious actor. Depp’s courage in selecting roles that most people
would not even glance at is what gives him credit as a creative and talented actor. He
selected roles in such movies as Benny & Joon, Rear Window and From Hell, none of
which were box office hits, but the characters meant something to him. In Benny & Joon
he had an opportunity to emulate Charlie Chaplin, and he thoroughly enjoyed the role. He
also collaborates with Burton in the Hammer horror film, Sleepy Hollow. Johnny Depp’s
comedic performance in this film as Ichabod Crane makes it one of his best works. His
depiction of Ichabod Crane is funny and dark. You wonder about the Ichabod’s frame of
mind and how he comes up with some of those weird, scientific contraptions.
After the birth of his children, Depp decided to create movies that his children can
watch. This being the case he does more movies oriented towards children and family,
such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp as Willy Wonka is amazing. This is one
of the few films whose remake is as good or even better than the original. His creative
ability to show so much through his facial expressions and eyes is not likely to be rivaled
any time soon. He can show pain, horror, disgust, and wit without you having to see
anything but his face. In this film the amount of disgust and fear that appears on his face
when Violet Beauregarde hugs him is hilarious, as well as his horror and dread when the
Oompa-Loompas give him green beetle goop to eat and he takes a finger full and it sticks
like phlegm hanging off his finger. His expression is priceless. He brings this talent out
again, along with very dramatic body language, in his character Captain Jack Sparrow in
the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl whom he modeled on
legendary guitarist Keith Richards from the The Rolling Stones, since he felt that pirates
were basically the rock stars of their time. He is constantly taking chances with the roles
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he plays. Not many people were sure whether or not Pirates of the Caribbean would be a
hit or not since it was based off of a Disney ride, and he took that chance. That’s why
many believe he’s the only actor out there willing to take huge risks (Johnny Depp:
Biography).
Johnny Depp’s creative abilities are evident in his ability to play many diverse
roles, and play them well. His gift for showing so much about a character through
expression alone is a rare talent. His abilities go back to the timeless black and white
films where expressions were all that was used to convey emotion. He doesn’t need to
make exaggerated gesticulations just portray simple honest emotion. When Johnny Depp
acts, we view a piece of his soul and he allows us to judge for ourselves if we like what
we see. Although he was given his break based mostly on his classic bad-boy good looks,
Johnny Depp has proven that he has staying power. He has shown that he is definitely
more than a pretty face.
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Works Cited
Johnny Depp: Biography. Narr. Dave Hoffman. Writer. Carolyn Townsend. A&E. DVD.
20th Century Fox Film Corporation, 2004.
Hinson, Hal. “Ed Wood”. WashingtonPost.com 07 Oct 1994. 26 Nov 2006.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/movies/videos/edwoodrhinson_a019be.htm>.
Howe, Desson. “Edward Scissorhands”. WashingtonPost.com 14 Dec 1990. 26 Nov
2006. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/movies/videos/edwardscissorhandspg13howe_a0b2c5.htm>.
Maslin, Janet. “Review/Film: And So Handy Around The Garden”. New York Times on
the Web 7 Dec 1990. 26 Nov 2006
<http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=2&title1=&title2=ED
WARD%20SCISSORHANDS%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin
&v_id=15350&pdate=19901207&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes&oref=slogin>.
Travers, Peter. “Ed Wood”. RollingStone.com RS603. 8 Dec 2000. 26 Nov 2006.
<http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5947169/review/5947170/ed_wood
>.