John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards.
Depp made his feature film debut in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and appeared in Platoon (1986), before rising to prominence as a teen idol on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987–1990). In the 1990s, Depp acted mostly in independent films with auteur directors, often playing eccentric characters. These included Cry-Baby (1990), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Benny and Joon (1993), Dead Man (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Depp also began his longtime collaboration with the director Tim Burton, portraying the leads in the films Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), and Sleepy Hollow (1999).
In the 2000s, Depp became one of the most commercially successful film stars by playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the Walt Disney swashbuckler film series Pirates of the Caribbean (2003–2017). He also received acclaim for Chocolat (2000), Finding Neverland (2004) and Public Enemies (2009), and continued his commercially successful collaboration with Burton with the films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Alice in Wonderland (2010).
In 2012, Depp was one of the world's biggest film stars,[1][2] and was listed by the Guinness World Records as the world's highest-paid actor, with earnings of US$75 million in a year.[3] During the 2010s, Depp began producing films through his company Infinitum Nihil. He also received acclaim for Black Mass (2015) and formed the rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, before starring as Gellert Grindelwald in the Wizarding World films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
Between 1998 and 2012, Depp was in a relationship with the French singer Vanessa Paradis, with whom he had two children, including the actress Lily-Rose Depp. From 2015 to 2017, Depp was married to the actress Amber Heard. Their divorce drew media attention, as both alleged abuse against each other and both engaged in highly publicized defamation cases.
Early life
John Christopher Depp II was born on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky,[4][5][6] the youngest of four children of waitress Betty Sue Depp (née Wells; later Palmer)[7] and civil engineer John Christopher Depp.[8][9] Depp's family moved frequently during his childhood, eventually settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970.[10] His parents divorced in 1978 when he was 15,[10][11] and his mother later married Robert Palmer, whom Depp has called "an inspiration".[12][13]
Depp's mother gave him a guitar when he was 12, and he began playing in various bands.[10] He dropped out of Miramar High School at 16 in 1979 to become a rock musician. He attempted to go back to school two weeks later, but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician.[10] In 1980, Depp began playing in a band called The Kids. After modest local success in Florida, the band moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, changing its name to Six Gun Method. In addition to the band, Depp worked a variety of odd jobs, such as in telemarketing. In December 1983, Depp married makeup artist Lori Anne Allison,[5] the sister of his band's bassist and singer. The Kids split up before signing a record deal in 1984, and Depp began collaborating with the band Rock City Angels.[14] He co-wrote their song "Mary", which appeared on their debut Geffen Records album Young Man's Blues.[15] Depp and Allison divorced in 1985.[5]
Depp is of primarily English descent, with some French, German, and Irish ancestry.[16] His surname comes from a French Huguenot immigrant, Pierre Dieppe, who settled in Virginia around 1700. In interviews in 2002 and 2011, Depp claimed to have Native American ancestry, saying: "I guess I have some Native American somewhere down the line. My great-grandmother was quite a bit of Native American. She grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian. Makes sense in terms of coming from Kentucky, which is rife with Cherokee and Creek Indian".[17] Depp's claims came under scrutiny when Indian Country Today wrote that Depp had never inquired about his heritage or been recognized as a member of the Cherokee Nation.[18] This led to criticism of Depp by the Native American community, as Depp has no documented Native ancestry,[18] and Native community leaders consider him "a non-Indian"[18][19] and a pretendian.[20][21][22] Depp's choice to portray Tonto, a Native American character, in The Lone Ranger was criticized,[18][19] along with his choice to name his rock band "Tonto's Giant Nuts".[23][24][25][26] During the promotion for The Lone Ranger, Depp was formally adopted as an honorary son by LaDonna Harris, a member of the Comanche Nation, making him an honorary member of her family but not a member of any tribe.[27][28] Depp's Comanche name given at the adoption was "Mah Woo May", which means shape shifter.[29] Critical response to his claims from the Native community increased after this, including satirical portrayals of Depp by Native comedians.[24][25][26] An ad featuring Depp and Native American imagery, by Dior for the fragrance "Sauvage", was pulled in 2019 after being accused of cultural appropriation and racism.[30][31][32][33][27]
Career
1984–1989: Early roles and 21 Jump Street
Depp moved to Los Angeles with his band when he was 20. After the band split up, Depp's then-wife Lori Ann Allison introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage.[10] After they became drinking buddies, Cage advised him to pursue acting.[34] Depp had been interested in acting since reading a biography of James Dean and watching Rebel Without a Cause.[35] Cage helped Depp get an audition with Wes Craven for A Nightmare on Elm Street; Depp, who had no acting experience, said he "ended up acting by accident".[36][37] Thanks in part to his catching the eye of Craven's daughter,[36] Depp landed the role of the main character's boyfriend, one of Freddy Krueger's victims.[10]
Though Depp said he "didn't have any desire to be an actor", he continued to be cast in films,[37] making enough to cover some bills that his musical career left unpaid.[36] After a starring role in the 1985 comedy Private Resort, Depp was cast in the lead role of the 1986 skating drama Thrashin' by the film's director, but its producer overrode the decision.[38][39] Instead, Depp appeared in a minor supporting role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon. He became a teen idol during the late 1980s, when he starred as an undercover police officer in a high school operation in the Fox television series 21 Jump Street, which premiered in 1987.[10] He accepted this role to work with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him. Despite his success, Depp felt that the series "forced [him] into the role of product".[40]
1990–2002: Independent films and early collaborations with Tim Burton
Disillusioned by his experiences as a teen idol in 21 Jump Street, Depp began taking roles he found more interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office.[40][41] His first film release in 1990 was John Waters's Cry-Baby, a musical comedy set in the 1950s. Although not a box-office success upon its release,[42] over the years it has gained cult classic status.[43] Also in 1990, Depp played the title character in Tim Burton's romantic fantasy film Edward Scissorhands opposite Dianne Wiest and Winona Ryder. The film was a commercial and critical success with a domestic gross of $53 million.[44] In preparation for the role, Depp watched many Charlie Chaplin films to study how to create sympathy without dialogue.[45] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Depp's performance, writing that he "artfully expresses the fierce longing in gentle Edward; it's a terrific performance",[46] while Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote that he "brings the eloquence of the silent era to this part of few words, saying it all through bright black eyes and the tremulous care with which he holds his horror-movie hands".[47] Depp earned his first Golden Globe nomination for the film. Owing to this role, a species of extinct arthropod with prominent claws was named after Depp as Kootenichela deppi (chela is Latin for claws or scissors).
Depp had no film releases in the next two years, except a brief cameo in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), the sixth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He appeared in three films in 1993. In the romantic comedy Benny and Joon, he played an eccentric and illiterate silent film fan who befriends a mentally ill woman and her brother; it became a sleeper hit. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that Depp "may look nothing like Buster Keaton, but there are times when he genuinely seems to become the Great Stone Face, bringing Keaton's mannerisms sweetly and magically to life".[48] Depp received a second Golden Globe nomination for the performance. His second film of 1993 was Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a drama about a dysfunctional family co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis. It did not perform well commercially, but received positive notices from critics.[49] Although most of the reviews focused on DiCaprio, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance, Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that "Depp manages to command center screen with a greatly affable, appealing characterization".[50] Depp's last 1993 release was Emir Kusturica's surrealist comedy-drama Arizona Dream, which opened to positive reviews and won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
In 1994, Depp reunited with Burton, playing the title role in Ed Wood, a biographical film about one of history's most inept film directors. Depp later said that he was depressed about films and filmmaking at the time, but that "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project, I was committed".[51] He found that the role gave him a "chance to stretch out and have some fun" and that working with Martin Landau, who played Bela Lugosi, "rejuvenated my love for acting".[51] Although it did not earn back its production costs, Ed Wood received a positive reception from critics, with Maslin writing that Depp had "proved himself as an established, certified great actor" and "captured all the can-do optimism that kept Ed Wood going, thanks to an extremely funny ability to look at the silver lining of any cloud".[52] Depp was nominated for a third time for a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe for his performance.
The next year, Depp starred in three films. He played opposite Marlon Brando in the box-office hit Don Juan DeMarco, as a man who believes he is Don Juan, the world's greatest lover. He starred in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, a Western shot entirely in black-and-white; it was not a commercial success and had mixed critical reviews. And in the financial and critical failure Nick of Time, Depp played an accountant who is told to kill a politician to save his kidnapped daughter.
In 1997, Depp and Al Pacino starred in the crime drama Donnie Brasco, directed by Mike Newell. Depp played Joseph D. Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who assumes the name Donnie Brasco to infiltrate the Mafia in New York City. To prepare, Depp spent time with Pistone, on whose memoirs the film was based. Donnie Brasco was a commercial and critical success, and is considered one of Depp's finest performances.[53][54] Also in 1997, Depp debuted as a director and screenwriter with The Brave. He starred in it as a poor Native American man who accepts a proposal from a wealthy man, played by Marlon Brando, to appear in a snuff film in exchange for money for his family. It premiered at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival to generally negative reviews.[55] Variety called it "a turgid and unbelievable neo-western",[56] and Time Out wrote that "besides the implausibilities, the direction has two fatal flaws: it's both tediously slow and hugely narcissistic as the camera focuses repeatedly on Depp's bandana'd head and rippling torso".[57] Due to the reviews, Depp did not release The Brave in the U.S.[58][59]
Depp was a fan and friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, and played his alter ego Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Terry Gilliam's film adaptation of Thompson's pseudo-biographical novel of the same name.[a] It was a box-office failure[62] and polarized critics.[63] Later that year, Depp made a brief cameo in Mika Kaurismäki's L.A. Without a Map (1998).
Depp appeared in three films in 1999. The first was the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut's Wife, co-starring Charlize Theron, which was not a commercial or critical success. The second, Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate, starred Depp as a seller of old books who becomes entangled in a mystery. It was moderately more successful with audiences but received mixed reviews. The third was Burton's adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where Depp played Ichabod Crane opposite Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken. For his performance, Depp took inspiration from Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall and Basil Rathbone, saying he "always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl".[64][65] Sleepy Hollow was a commercial and critical success.
Depp's first film release of the new millennium was British-French drama The Man Who Cried (2000), directed by Sally Potter and starring him as a Roma horseman opposite Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, and John Turturro. It was not a critical success. Depp also had a supporting role in Julian Schnabel's critically acclaimed Before Night Falls (2000). His final film of 2000 was Hallström's critically and commercially successful Chocolat, in which he played a Roma man and the love interest of the main character, Juliette Binoche. Depp's next roles were both based on historical persons. In Blow (2001), he starred as cocaine smuggler George Jung, who was part of the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s. The film underperformed at the box office[66] and received mixed reviews.[67][68] In the comic book adaptation From Hell (2001), Depp portrayed inspector Frederick Abberline, who investigated the Jack the Ripper murders in the 1880s London. The film also received mixed reviews[69] but was a moderate commercial success.[70]
2003–2011: Pirates of the Caribbean and box office success
In 2003, Depp starred in the Walt Disney Pictures adventure film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a major box office success.[41] He earned widespread acclaim for his comic performance as pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, and received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and won a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Actor as well as an MTV Movie Award. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me",[71] and that he modeled the character after The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards[72] and cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew.[73] Studio executives had at first been ambivalent about Depp's portrayal,[74] but the character became popular with audiences.[41] In his other film release in 2003, Robert Rodriguez' action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Depp played a corrupt CIA agent. A moderate box-office success,[75] it received average to good reviews, with Depp's performance in particular receiving praise.[76][77]
Depp next starred as an author with writer's block in the thriller Secret Window (2004), based on a short story by Stephen King. It was a moderate commercial success but received mixed reviews.[78][79] Released around the same time, the British-Australian independent film The Libertine (2004) saw Depp portray the seventeenth-century poet and rake, the Earl of Rochester. It had only limited release, and received mainly negative reviews. Depp's third film of 2004, Finding Neverland, was more positively received by the critics, and earned him his second Academy Award nomination as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG nominations for his performance as Scottish author J. M. Barrie. Depp also made a brief cameo appearance in the French film Happily Ever After (2004), and founded his own film production company, Infinitum Nihil, under Warner Bros. Pictures.[80]
Depp continued his box-office success with a starring role as Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). It also had a positive critical reception,[81][82] with Depp being nominated again for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.[72][83] Chocolate Factory was followed by another Burton project, stop-motion animation Corpse Bride (2005), in which Depp voiced the main character, Victor Van Dort.[84] Depp reprised the role of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007), both of which were major box office successes.[85] He also voiced the character in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.[86] According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp in the role of Jack Sparrow was the main reason for many cinema-goers to see a Pirates film.[87]
In 2007, Depp collaborated with Burton for their sixth film together, this time playing murderous barber Sweeney Todd in the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Depp cited Peter Lorre's performance in Mad Love (1935), in which Lorre played a "creepy but sympathetic" surgeon, as his main influence for the role.[88] Sweeney Todd was the first film in which Depp had been required to sing. Instead of hiring a qualified vocal coach, he prepared for the role by recording demos with his old bandmate Bruce Witkin. The film was a commercial and critical success. Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty stated that "Depp's soaring voice makes you wonder what other tricks he's been hiding ... Watching Depp's barber wield his razors ... it's hard not to be reminded of Edward Scissorhands frantically shaping hedges into animal topiaries 18 years ago ... and all of the twisted beauty we would've missed out on had [Burton and Depp] never met".[89] Depp won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Actor for the role, and was nominated for the third time for an Academy Award.
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In 2009, Depp portrayed real-life gangster John Dillinger in Michael Mann's 1930s crime film Public Enemies.[90] It was commercially successful[91] and gained moderately positive reviews.[92][93] Roger Ebert stated in his review that "This Johnny Depp performance is something else. For once an actor playing a gangster does not seem to base his performance on movies he has seen. He starts cold. He plays Dillinger as a fact".[94] Depp's second film of 2009, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, reunited him with director Terry Gilliam. Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell each played the character initially portrayed by their friend Heath Ledger, who had died before the film was completed. All three actors gave their salaries to Ledger's daughter, Matilda.[95]
Depp began the 2010s with another collaboration with Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland (2010), in which he played the Mad Hatter opposite Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Alan Rickman. Despite mixed reviews, it earned US$1.025 billion in the box office, thus becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2010[96] and one of the highest-grossing films of all time.[97] Depp's second film release of 2010 was the romantic thriller The Tourist, in which he starred opposite Angelina Jolie. It was commercially successful, although panned by critics.[98] Regardless, he received Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe nominations for both films.
Depp's first 2011 film release was the animated film Rango, in which he voiced the title character, a lizard. It was a major critical and commercial success.[99][100] His second film of the year, the fourth installment in the Pirates series, On Stranger Tides, was again a box office hit,[85] becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2011.[101] Later in 2011, Depp released the first two projects co-produced by his company, Infinitum Nihil. The first was a film adaptation of the novel The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson and starred Depp.[102] It failed to bring back its production costs[103][104] and received mixed reviews.[105][106] The company's second undertaking, Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011), garnered major critical acclaim and several awards nominations, but similarly did not perform well in the box office. In 2011, Depp also made a brief cameo in the Adam Sandler film Jack and Jill.