Reflections . . .
Quotes About Johnny
G — H — I
G
Our
challenge each year in choosing a tributee is to
find someone who is a highly accomplished artist about whom we crave to
know
more. Johnny Depp is such an artist. He has made interesting, risky
choices in
his career and has evolved into one of the most absorbing actors of our
time.
—Christian
Gaines
Director of AFI FEST, October 2005
As
it
works out, he's actually one of the best
guitarists I've ever seen. He's really really good. He doesn't actually
think
he's any good, but he's a fine guitarist. That's why we got him to play
the slide
guitar solo on ‘Fade in/Out’ on the last album,
'cos I
couldn't play it.
Afterwards, everybody . . . we were rehearsing for the tour: it took me
about 6
months to work it out, what he was actually playing.
—Noel
Gallagher
Oasis songwriter and guitarist, 1998
There
is
that whole part of him, that public figure
who's invented this persona. And one can't help it: everyone wants to
be cool
and hip in their own legend. But the truth about him is that the real
person—the
real poor white kid from Florida that I got to know—is one of
the
more
interesting people that I've met in my life.
—Vincent
Gallo
Arizona Dream
co-star, 1998
If
you
want to see Johnny Depp's greatest moments in
film, look at the scenes where he has no dialogue. He's the most
brilliant
listener in a movie. There's a scene in Arizona Dream where
we're at a
movie
theatre and they're showing Raging
Bull. All he's doing is watching me hustle
these three girls. I'm telling her 'We can make love, but do not touch
my face
or my hair.' And I start rambling on . . . And I say ‘Do you
think fucking
Johnny Depp—like, does anybody touch his face?’ I
just said
it, do y'now what I
mean? I just said it, I just was goofing, 'cos I thought we were just
shooting
a rehearsal. Johnny is FLAWLESS in the scene. He's just brilliant in
the scene.
He doesn't flinch. I say his name in the scene and he doesn't flinch.
He blows
me off the screen, doing nothing in the scene. And it's my most
animated scene
in the film.
—Vincent
Gallo
Arizona Dream
co-star, 1998
My best joke on Johnny Depp was when
we were filming inside
this stately home in England. It's the only place where the Queen can
ride her
horse from Windsor without going on public roads. Well, the Queen came past one
day—and everyone was
gobsmacked. She obviously had her entourage, but next to her was a
friend of
mine called Henry Herbert. He was the 17th Earl of Pembroke, and he's
also a
film director. As they went past, I'm standing there with all the
actors and
Henry shouts, ‘Hello Mike.’ So I reply:
‘Hello Henry, how are you, mate?’ The
Queen waves like she was talking to me and on they went, but Johnny was
speechless. He asked: ‘Do you know her?’ And I
said: ‘Yeah, she's a mate of
mine.’ And he
believed that?
—Michael
Gambon
Sleepy Hollow costar, speaking to
Adam Tanswell of futuremovies.co.uk
This
character (Mort) has a lot of Johnny in him.
Those little asides here and there are very him, that very dry, deadpan
humor.
—Robert
Garlock
publicist, Secret Window, NY Post,
March 2004
One
of
the great things about Johnny is that I don't
think he has any ego or vanity when it comes to becoming a character. A
lot of
actors refuse going all the way in giving up their good looks . . .
Whatever .
. . Not so with Johnny. It took a while to get him to shave his head,
but he
knew that this was inevitable and he was going to do it. And it wasn't
just
that he shaves his head, but then he has a little toupee with 17 sad
little
hairs on it. [Laughing] So it's even
SADDER baldness! And he did other things: he had plastic foams behind
his ears
[demonstrates] that stuck them out.
He loses himself totally, and I think he's escaping from Johnny Depp a
lot.
—Terry
Gilliam
director, Fear
& Loathing in Las
Vegas, 1998
It's
hard to put your finger on why he's so
extraordinary. But technically, he's astonishing, he's absolutely
brilliant,
with the kind of technique you'd only get if you'd spent 10 years at
RADA—and
it's all self-taught. You don't want to work with anyone else once
you've
worked with somebody as good as that. For me, it was like working with
Python
again—he's that fast and that funny and inventive.
—Terry
Gilliam
Johnny
isn't a method actor, he's a thorough actor and
immerses himself totally . . . most actors carry it with them. We say
‘cut’ and
they're still in the character and that's not Johnny . . . It's like
working
with an English actor . . . we're talking about football and
‘action’ he's in
character, then ‘cut’ and we're back to telling
jokes
again. I guess you can
learn this degree of concentration, train yourself . . . but it just
amazes me
the gifts with which Johnny has been blessed.
—Terry
Gilliam
smart.co.uk
You
begin to think that Johnny's a silent movie star,
is what he really is, and he just happens to be born a little bit late.
He has
the same kind of skills as a Buster Keaton or a Charlie Chaplin has:
they use
their entire being.
—Terry
Gilliam
director, Fear
& Loathing in Las
Vegas, 1998
He
won't flounder because he's so good. He's so
talented. He may not be Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks or any other
Tom—are there any
other Toms out there?—because he chooses interesting material
and he doesn't
want to be an icon. I saw Minority Report last night and I don't think
I can
watch Tom Cruise ever again. He's not a bad actor; he's just a totally
predictable actor. There are no surprises. Johnny surprises me; I don't
know
what he's going to do next, I don't know where it's going to go
sometimes, and
nor does he.
—Terry
Gilliam
Daily Telegraph, August 2002
It
was a fantastic role [Toby Grosini] because it
allows him to start off as a complete asshole and eventually reach a
transcendental state. I wanted to take the entire range of Johnny and
who he is
and what he's capable of, and play with it. He tends to get these parts
where
he's lovely or innocent or whatever, and I thought, let's stretch him
and let
him really play on a broad canvas. He's much more interesting than the
world
knows. There's a sting to Johnny's tail that most people haven't seen,
and I
thought we should incorporate some of that.
—Terry
Gilliam
director, The Man Who
Killed Don Quixote, 2002
My
editor told me she'd pay me to think about Johnny
Depp. I fooled her. I think about Johnny Depp all the
time—for
free.
—Alison
Gilmor
Winnipeg Free Press, November 2003
As
odd
as Depp can be, though—and if you saw him
reeling through Fear
and Loathing in
Las Vegas in a paranoid, gun-toting mescaline
haze, you'll know that's fairly odd—he is also disciplined.
He
keeps his
loopiness inside precise boundaries, whether it’s channeling
Buster Keaton in
Benny & Joon
or basing the
character of Edward Scissorhands on a childhood
pet. Letting Depp loose on a movie set is not like having Tom Greene or
Sam
Kinison or Andy Kaufman running around.
—Alison
Gilmor
Winnipeg Free Press, November 2003
The
whole point of Johnny Depp is that he can't be
predicted by market surveys or replicated by committee. He's a one-off.
—Alison
Gilmor
Winnipeg Free Press, November 2003
Johnny
continually re-invents himself, but he makes it
look effortless. He's always fresh. Johnny has such a range, going
through
different periods, accents, worlds. He's on top right now. Still, you
get the
feeling he hasn't reached his peak yet . . . he has so much more in
him. He's
not out to prove anything to anyone. He just wants to create wonderful
characters and have a great time.
—Richard
Gladstein
Producer, Finding Neverland
I think he is more himself when he's
not in his own country.
I went to see Johnny in L.A. when he was shooting Don
Juan DeMarco, and he was a different man to the man I knew in
Paris: much more paranoiac, always on the lookout for the press. In
Paris I saw
a free man.
—Pascal
Gregory
French actor and friend, Talk Magazine, October 1999
H
He's
a
little dangerous, he has a secret, he has great
warmth—all those things you can see in his eyes. That's the
key
to his appeal.
—Lasse
Hallstrom
He's
quite shy, really. Very humorous and witty. No
airs or graces. When you get down to working, it's like working with
anybody
else.
—Naomie
Harris
Pirates co-star, AJC Staff, July,
2006
Historically,
when a show becomes really popular,
actors turn into giant assholes, but not Johnny. He once lit his
underwear on
fire in the middle of the set, but that was because no one had cleaned
up his
motor home in a long time. The show's success may prevent Johnny from
taking
features offers, but he's being cool about it, cooler than I'd be in
his shoes.
And if I were his age and looked like he does, I'd be dead by now.
Girls follow
him everywhere, screaming.
—Patrick
Hasburgh
creator of 21 Jump
Street,
1998
I wanted to work with Johnny Depp
more than anything, and
what with Mike Newell directing, I was totally in
awe—although I had to pretend
I wasn't!
—Anne
Heche
Donnie Brasco co-star, June 1997
When I met him he had this really
long hair. He showed up at
the meeting, very quiet, really shy, and was teaching us magic tricks.
I
thought, I suppose he could be Gilbert . . .
—Peter
Hedges
author, What's Eating Gilbert Grape,
Premiere, February 1995
He has an almost burning desire to
make ugly choices. He
comes with a physical beauty that's just astonishing, and at the same
time he
has no interest in being that.
—Peter
Hedges
author, What's Eating Gilbert Grape,
Premiere, February 1995
I
heard
the role [of Charlie Bucket in Charlie and
the Chocolate
Factory] was
coming up, so I read the book again and went along to the auditions.
And then I
got the part, which was a dream come true because I was quite sad when
I left Finding Neverland because I
thought I'd
never see Johnny again.
—Freddie
Highmore
Finding Neverland and Charlie
and the
Chocolate Factory
co-star
It's
fantastic, you know, to be able to work twice
with a—with a great person.
—Freddie
Highmore
Today Show
interview with Al
Roker and Johnny Depp
Johnny’s
a mate, a real first-rate guy. We
became friends on Neverland, and we
still email and text. He’s so normal—he says hello to
everyone on set, from the
director to the tea lady.
—Freddie
Highmore, actor
Telegraph Online, November 2007
He
is
one of the few actors of his generation who has
made a concerted effort not to be a movie star. He's an artist.
—Dustin
Hoffman
Finding Neverland
co-star, 2003
I
think people like Johnny Depp are an exception. He is the current model
of what
an actor should be. His body of work speaks volumes. He was so
under-rated for
so long, but he will have longevity . . . and it is such a gratifying
thrill to
see he is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
—Dustin
Hoffman
Jam Movies interview, October 2003
[Depp] is quickly proving to be the
most larcenous man in
show business by stealing every movie he's in.
—Ann
Hornaday
The Washington Post, quoted in Johnny
Depp, A Modern Rebel by Brian J. Robb
I've
always thought that he was
really cool. I was very
excited when I first heard from him. He's been so courteous and warm
and
genuine during the process of buying the book that he's even gone up in
my
estimation.
—Nick
Hornby
author, A Long Way Down
(purchased
by Johnny's company Infinitum Nihil)
I
have
kind of a history of making a bad first
impression. And I did it again when I first met Johnny Depp. In
February 2004,
I was a computer programmer. By April, I was working on the set at The Libertine, trying to get a paid film
education. We were on the Isle of Man, and I knew he played guitar, and
[some
others and I] were going to get together at our cottage and jam. And
the Isle
of Man is its own country, and we went to all the music stores there
and none
of them rented out any musical equipment . . . and I said,
‘Wait
a minute!
You're Johnny Depp! Can't you just walk into any store in the world and
go, I'm
Johnny Depp and I want some drums!’
And
then I just sighed to myself as I realized I had just made another bad
first
impression. But he was great, he just smiled and said, ‘Yeah,
I
suppose I
could.’
—Joe
Howes
creator of the Making of the Libertine
DVD Documentary, Calgary Herald, March 2006
Johnny
brings a shocking amount of depth to the role.
The way he plays things, you could take the words out and he could play
it all
out in his face. He's amazing. People know he can play dark stuff, but
he
brings a real edge to the role.
—Allen
Hughes
director, From Hell,
Wizard Magazine, 2001
It's funny how skinny Johnny is, all
he eats is Kentucky
Fried Chicken and McDonalds and crappy food! He's proud of it. He takes
his
shirt off, and there's not one bit of fat. He's 38-years-old and he
looks like
he's 25.
—Allen
Hughes
director, From Hell,
2003
I
I tell him that I once downed a very rare bottle of port, only three bottles left in the world, and the owner of the vineyard said Johnny Depp had just paid £2,000 for one of the other two.
“Quite possible,”
he says. “I was with a friend, a
photographer; we used to draw together and paint. One night we bought a
1908
port, a Taylor. We bought it and drank it that night in an hour. It was
perfect
and amazing, like drinking history. It actually made us paint better,
which is
nice.”
—Chrissy
Iley
The Sunday Times Magazine, July 2003
So why do people think Depp is a
troubled bad boy? He
doesn't seem bad to me. He's probably the most charming person I've
ever
touched the tattoos of. He's funny, kind, and gives himself totally in
every
moment.
—Chrissy
Iley
The Sunday Times Magazine, July 2003
His eyes light up when I produce a
gift for him. Because the
film [The Libertine] features lots
of
17th-century pornography and elegantly carved dildos, I bring him one
from a
chic Los Angeles sex-toy emporium called the Booty Parlor. It's one
that's been
named after him. He is genuinely ecstatic and starts waving it around.
“I
haven't had one of these for 20 years. It's gorgeous.” He
says that he's going
to put it in a frame similar to the ones fire extinguishers are held
in. Depp
the libertine is back? There's a pause before he says: “It'll
have a sign:
break only in an emergency.”
—Chrissy
Iley
London Evening Standard, November, 2005
He is still a pirate, going his own
way, living by his own rules,
which includes canceling all his one-on-one international interviews
except for
me. Now do you see why I love him? Maybe this is because Johnny would
never let
down anybody that he actually knew. Or maybe it was because the last
time we
met, I gave him a dildo named Johnny. There was a reason: he had just
done The Libertine, playing the
sexually
omnivorous Earl of Rochester. “It was a gorgeous
gift,” he says, smiling
naughtily. “A great gift.”
—Chrissy
Iley
The Guardian, July 3, 2006
Depp asks that we meet at Barney's
Beanery, an L.A. dive
decorated with rainbow-striped vinyl seats and pool tables—as
if a biker bar
had been crossed with Howard Johnson's. One and a half hours after our
meeting
time, Johnny Depp appears. He is dressed in a battered tux jacket
draped over
flannel shirt(s) that seem to cover one or more T-shirts. Unhooked
suspenders
slap against maroon bell-bottoms slit up the sides. Hair hangs in his
face. He
has on what appears to be combat boots. He yawns.
—Betsy
Israel
US magazine, May 1993
Johnny Depp, on his own, consistently
tries to be polite. He
offers cigarettes, sugar for coffee; he asks considerate questions
(“So, are
you completely weirded being in L.A.?”)
—Betsy
Israel
US magazine, May 1993