Johnny Depp - Interviews

DEPP DEALS HOLLYWOOD A BLOW

Playing a drug dealer in his latest film Blow served as a reminder for actor Johnny Depp of the dangers of narcotics.

In 1993, Depp's friend River Phoenix died of an overdose outside Depp's LA club The Viper Room and the actor best known for his roles in quirky films such as Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow admits he narrowly escaped becoming a victim of the drugs scene himself.

"Had things not worked out in my life the way they did, had I not found music when I was young, there's a possibility I could have gone in a similar direction," says the guitar-playing actor.

Early on in his career, Depp earned himself a reputation as a hellraiser but nowadays leads a largely clean life, apart from his cigarette habit. He claims his decision to move out of Hollywood to live with girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and their baby daughter Lily-Rose in the South of France, saved his sanity and he has no intention of returning.

"I will never raise my daughter in America," he says firmly. "I will never raise any child I have there, never. I just turned on the TV to watch CNN and there was another shooting at a high school.

"It's pure selfishness and ignorance and greed. There are no proper values in America, it's gonna explode, it should explode," he adds, his voice full of anger.

The 37-year old star who before meeting Paradis, was engaged to Winona Ryder and British model Kate Moss, says fatherhood has not only altered his views about his former homeland, but also profoundly changed him as a person.

"It's changed everything," he smiles, "It's the greatest thing. It's not enough to say that - it's the only thing. I went through 35 years in a very strange and dark fog and I never really understood what the point was to anything in life. It wasn't until Vanessa and the birth of Lily-Rose that I finally realised there's something to live for.

"I love our house in the country. I can walk to the village and have a coffee and no-one pays any notice. I'm just another dad with his daughter."

Now Depp insists his family travel with him whenever possible despite a busier than ever schedule. In fact part of the reason he agreed to make a recent foray back to Hollywood for his latest movie Blow, was because they were close by.

"I was in LA making Blow at the same time my girl was doing her record in Los Angeles," he says referring affectionately to Paradis.

Blow also stars Hollywood's latest golden girl Penelope Cruz. It tells the true story of George Jung (Depp), the infamous drugs dealer who was responsible for bringing the cocaine trade from Columbia to the US in the 70s and 80s.

It's a controversial tale which some critics argue glamorises the drugs trade but Depp believes it's a story that had to be told.

"It's a cautionary story and you learn from other people's mistakes," he reasons.

As part of his research Depp went to visit Jung, who is currently serving a prison sentence in the States and admits he was surprised by the man he came face to face with.

"There were a lot of clanging metal doors, it was really uncomfortable," he recalls of the prison visit. "You have to empty your pockets and go through metal detectors and get checked out. But Jung was a very charming and smart guy, he's doing his time. I thought, 'Yeah he did a lot of horrible things, but in a way I saw him as a victim of his upbringing as we all are'."

Depp also says he connected with Jung's inability to handle fame. Even now, the notoriously private actor says he cannot come to terms with being in the public eye - another reason he chooses to live in Europe.

"I feel much more comfortable in Europe," he says. "There was one time I was away from LA for about two years and I had to go back to do something.

"I arrived after 12 hours on the plane went to a bar to have a quick drink with a friend and within 45 minutes of being off that plane I was approached by two people with a couple of different script ideas. They began to do the song and dance for me, they were like, 'It'll be a huge hit, it's going to be great'.

"Just hours before I'd been in Europe discussing when the grapes are right. You know there's a huge difference," he continues. "I will never understand the animal, the machine of Hollywood. The beast of it all. I don't want to understand it."

Depp says the only way he's learned to deal with his fame is to ignore it and never read anything that's written about him - including reviews.

So often it's made up anyway," he says with a wry smile. "The most bizarre thing I ever read was that I flew into Miami and had a wild fling with Madonna. They went into great detail about how I showed up at the front door, ripped my shirt off then we dived into her pool. I'd never even met her," he adds with a laugh.

Depp's healthy sense of humour also helps him cope. Despite being associated with mainly dark roles, the actor is always up for a laugh, as he proved with his recent appearance on TV's The Fast Show.

"Even in the deepest, darkest scenes I'm always the one who is looking to find the humour and extract it," he smiles.

It's back to the dark side again for Depp's next role in From Hell a story about Jack The Ripper, which was filmed in Prague and London.

"I've been fascinated by him since I was a young kid," he admits. "I jumped at the chance to do the film. It meant I could talk to some of the great Ripper-ologists and I got to wander through the area of Whitechapel at night," he grins. "I loved that."