Interview: Johnny Depp
Jul 3 2009 by Shereen Low
Johnny Depp tells Shereen Low about following in a gangster’s footsteps
HE may be one of the biggest stars in the world, but Johnny Depp doesn’t have the stellar ego to match. Walking into a posh suite in a London hotel, the Pirates Of The Caribbean heart-throb notices a floor-length film poster of him in the room and notes wryly: “It’s entirely too large, isn’t it?”
Furthermore, he’s reluctant to see his reflection on any screen, be it the big screen or even in the mirror.
“If I could avoid a mirror when I brush my teeth in the morning, I will,” he admits.
“I don’t like watching myself in the movie because I don’t like to be aware of the product. I like the process, I enjoy that.”
The Golden Globe-winning actor – who often retreats to a secluded Bahamian island – also prefers to stay oblivious to what’s happening in his career.
“I find security and safety in the most profound degree of ignorance,” he explains.
“It’s OK to notice things and look at things, but to judge things, you know, will bog you down.”
It must be difficult for Depp to escape his Hollywood status. After cementing himself as an Eighties teenage pin-up in Cry-Baby and Edward Scissorhands, his career plodded along with films like Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow, until he took on the life-changing role as Captain Jack Sparrow in 2003’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.
That movie won him three awards and 10 nominations, including an Oscar for Best Actor.
The 46-year-old father-of-two explains that this experience prepared him for his change of fortunes.
