Cinema Magazine (Greek) - June 2001

In his latest movie he plays a major drug dealer but in real life his dream is to realise John Lennon's vision. A simple example of how combining opposite things can be absolutely normal for him.

Interview by Ersie Danou

Amidst the noise and chaos of a trendy West Hollywood hotel, Johnny Depp appears like an angel in a tramp's clothes. His long hair with the blond streak shows under a striped knit cap. Wearing short sleeves over long sleeves, rings and tattoos, a dirty pair of jeans and faded boots, he looks like a teenager who sleeps with his clothes on and enjoys watching them wear out… The 37-year-old star always remains the "rebel without a cause" of our age, not so much because of his appearance and his sweet yet distant look, as for his preference to marginal characters and non-mainstream films. Depp always walks on the thin line between commercial success and artistic and personal gratification. Even though he gives the impression of a Hollywood star, the truth is that he had always turned his gaze away from the American mainstream film industry. Now he lives happily with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis and their little daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp in his new home, France. In his latest movie, Ted Demme's Blow, he plays George Jung, the man who brought cocaine to America.

You've said that your daughter gave you life…

It was like living in a fog for 35 years… I was confused, I didn't know what was right and wrong, or what was important. I was kind of miserable, I abused myself, I felt a rage that was always close to the surface… I can't really say that all that is over now. The rage and darkness are still there, but now I'm definitely closer to the light… Life didn't use to have the same meaning before. I never had something stable in my life till I met Vanessa and my daughter was born.

What is beauty to you? What do you find beautiful?

My daughter is beautiful, my girl is beautiful, my life, my family… There are lots of beautiful things. I've said quite a few harsh things about America and I don't want to seem like I hate it, cause that's not true. It's due to all this ugliness in this country, all the ignorance, all the violence, all this greed, all this gluttony… I love America but I'm disappointed by what has become of it. So, can I say that America is beautiful?… maybe.

Has your decision to live away from Hollywood affected your work?

I didn't really decide to leave. Everything started when I went to France for Roman Polanski's Ninth Gate. The distance from Hollywood, keeping away from negative influence and from the sense that everybody sees you as a product, and my relationship with a girl who made me feel human again, make me think that life isn't so bad and that everything is fine. Vanessa and the baby have certainly contributed to this… creative explosion. One thing is for sure, that I don't work for money. You can go through my savings account, if you want.

What was it that appealed to you in George Jung's story?

The fact that it's a story that has to be said… But it has been a challenge for me, especially ever since I met George. At first, you tend to see him as a major drug-dealer, who's abandoned his family, and not at all as a sympathetic figure. When I met him and read the book I realised that the whole thing was not that simple. He was doing what he knew best. What he got from his upbringing. He became exactly what he didn't want to be, a greedy person who doesn't think of anything other than money, just like his mother. I figured that my goal would be to take what seemed to be nothing but a party boy and turn him into a real man that you can relate to.

What's your ultimate goal in life? How do you hope to help or inspire others?

If there's a message to pass to people, I'd say that it's normal to be different from others, it's good to differ from one another, and we'd better look at ourselves first before we start criticising someone who looks, acts, speaks different or has a different skin colour. I'd like to continue, even at a minimal level, what John Lennon had started. If I could do as much as a bit of what he did, if I could contribute to the elimination of hatred among us, that would be a great deal.

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