Introduction:
    In the fall of 1986, a 23 year old Johnny Depp, made one of the biggest career decisions of his life.  However, this decision was not one easily made and it took a a lot of persuasion and even disappointment for this up and coming star to finally make the decision that would forever change his life.  YES, the decision in reference, is Johnny Depp's decision to take the lead role on 21 Jump Street as Officer Tom Hanson.  As hard as it is to swallow, Johnny's decision to leave the show came much easier.  It is fairly common knowledge that if Johnny Depp and 21 Jump Street are mentioned in the same sentence, that one can expect some type of controversy.  But why?  Is there good reason for this controversy?  Some would say yes, some no, and others really couldn't care one way or another.  Therefore, much effort has been put in to making this page of 21 Depp Street as enjoyable,  but informational as possible.  The ultimate goal for this page is an end result which will help fans of Johnny Depp and 21 Jump Street decipher fact from fiction and make an informed decision about what actually happened during Johnny's 21 Jump Street experience.  You will find that the following information is based solely on facts, reality, and information of value.  However, as this site is focused on Johnny Depp and his career with 21 Jump Street, one may feel as though that there is some bias on Johnny 's behalf.  In providing an honest answer, the intent is not to show partiality to Johnny Depp, but bear in mind that this site is focused on Johnny Depp and all information and quotes are either from Johnny himself and/or related directly to Johnny Depp and his role as Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street.  I hope that you find the following details informative and fun.

The Beginning:
    It's no secret that Johnny Depp's career to a major turn when he made the decision to take the role of Officer Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street, but it's also no secret that Depp was very hesitant in taking the role and almost didn't.  Johnny Depp had no interest in signing his life away on a television contract and, when first approached by Producers Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, Depp not only refused the role but went as far as to refuse to even read the script for the pilot - Jump Street Chapel.  With a commitment to a least film the pilot, Cannell and Hasburgh cast another young actor in the role, Jeff Yagher.  The producers and the Fox Broadcasting Network were not satisfied with Yagher's performance, he was let go after only 3 weeks in to filming the pilot, and Depp was once again on their minds, especially Hasburgh's.  Johnny Depp wasn't very well known at the time and had very little acting experience under his belt.  Depp's acting credits, at the time, consisted of minimal parts in low budget productions such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Private Resort and Slow Burn.  Depp had  high hopes  that his part in Oliver Stone's Platoon would be his claim to fame, but Depp's hopes were shattered when he found most of his speaking parts and appearances in this film on the cutting room floor.  Hasburgh was well aware of Depp's frustration with the movie and used this disappointment as a crutch when approaching Depp the second time to take the role.  Depp, in having to choose between his reluctance to commit to a binding television contract and having security, chose security and signed the contract as the lead role on 21 Jump Street.
    Depp wasn't even given time to get his feet wet in the new series and was thrown in head first into the role of Officer Tom Hanson.  The pilot had to be re-shot to introduce the fresh faced, doe eyed, good looking  Johnny Depp as Officer Tom Hanson.  He immediately found himself having to relocate to Vancouver (British Columbia) Canada which was the location of the 21 Jump Street set.  Luckily, Depp's mother and her new husband moved to Vancouver with him.  Depp's childhood friend Sal Jenco also visited Depp on the set of 21 Jump Street and impressed the producers with his talent of being a human blowfish that he was cast as a regular extra on the show.  Depp's then girl friend, Sherilyn Fenn, also visited Depp frequently in the beginning and was cast as a guest star along side Depp in the episode "Blindsided".  Depp had all the family and friends he needed, or so it seemed.

The Duration:
    With only a few weeks to settle in, both to the Jump Street set and his new home in Vancouver, Depp found himself to be a rising star.  Depp was able to make friends with most of the cast and crew of 21 Jump Street, especially Peter DeLuise (Depp's costar and on screen partner/best friend - Officer Doug Penhall), but there were some of the cast and crew who were very envious of Depp's newfound fame.  However, Peter DeLuise proved to be a life saver for Depp during this time.  Depp was considered to be "THE STAR" of 21 Jump Street and the responsibility to promote this show fell in Depp's lap.  This wasn't something he had asked for and was definitely something that he didn't want.  As 21 Jump Street became an overnight success and the ratings of the series and the new Fox Broadcasting Network soared, Depp found himself  labeled as a "teen idol" and "rebel".  These names were neither accurate in portraying Depp's real character nor something that Depp wanted to spend his time promoting.  However, Depp had to do what was best for the show and found himself in photo shoots for every type of pin-up teen magazine all over the globe.  Depp was definitely a star.  Depp, in his own words, summarizes this time of his life as being; "Scary and terrifying for me.  I was making $45,000.00 an episode, could put food on my table, pay my rent, and had never really seen this much money at one time in my life, but it was a terrifying experience.  My whole life had become engrossed into this show.  I worked 15 hours a day on the set shooting episodes, the rest of my time was spent learning lines and scripts for other episodes, I barely found time to sleep let alone be Johnny Depp."  Depp wasn't happy and had mentioned that if it wasn't for Peter DeLuise being there for him during this time in his life that he would have literally went insane. It was at this time that the infamous comic team of Depp and DeLuise was formed.  Johnny and Peter went around the set of 21 Jump Street showing off their comedian sides, but even with this little bit of light in his life, Depp's life was still lacking in reality and was not complete.
    Depp was no longer being viewed as Johnny Depp-the person, but as a character he played, Johnny Depp-Officer Tom Hanson.  This was among one of the biggest misconceptions in regards to Depp and his role on Jump Street.  Depp was nothing like the character he played.  Depp commented, "The only thing that Tom Hanson and I have in common are that we look alike.  I mean, Hanson isn't someone that I would want to hang out with, grab a pizza or a coke with.  There are 365 days in a year and 275 of these days I was saying someone else's words.  Words that I sometimes thought were bad words.  This left only 90 days out an entire year to say the actual words of Johnny Depp"  Depp wasn't handling his newfound fame well.  Everyone else thought Depp was so cool about his new teen idol image.  Hasburgh stated, "Most actors who find themselves in the spotlight like Johnny become real assholes, but not this guy.  I think the worst thing Johnny has ever done is set his underwear on fire in the middle of the set one day, but he had good reason claiming that no one had cleaned his motor home in a long time"  Depp didn't find himself coping with this well and he hated every minute of  it.  While others thought Depp was handling it well, Depp found himself more and more lonely.  His relationship with Fenn was deteriorating, he felt more alone than he had ever been, and began to isolate himself.  Depp continued to do his job as best he knew how, but referred to himself as; "Dumb-founded, lost, shoved down the gullets of America as a young Republican.  TV Boy, heart-throb, teen idol, teen hunk.  Plastered, postered, postured, patented, painted, plastic!!!  Stapled to a box of cereal with wheels, doing 200 mph on a one-way collision bound for Thermos and lunch box antiquity.  Novelty boy-Franchise boy."
    Depp not only had to continue to be the front man who promoted 21 Jump Street, but also found himself having to do public service announcements at the end of every show that pertained to the content of a specific episode.  Depp didn't mind doing this until he was asked to do a public service announcement that urged teens to stay in school.  Depp out right refused to do this.  Depp thought that this would be the worst thing he could do for himself, for the teens, and all in all felt like it was hypocritical and wrong.  Depp dropped out of school in high school and refused to get on television and tell others to stay in school.  This was when producers really saw Depp for who he really was.  Hasburgh has been know to say, "The one thing you can say for Johnny is that he fights hard for what he believes in, stands for what is right, what he believes in, and even stands for other people.  If he believes in a decision he makes regardless if it's right or wrong, he won't back down.  This doesn't mean I always agree with him, but I can definitely understand where he is coming from and the boy definitely has some deep rooted values."  In the 1998, Rolling Stone-State of the Union, Depp had mentioned these times and commented that he would turn on the television and there would be these commercials, commercials about him, about Johnny Depp, he couldn't bear to watch as he knew he was headed for lunch boxes.  These were not memories that Depp held close to his heart.
    Then, at the end of Season Two, Patrick Hasburgh left the series resulting in a major impact on the topics and writing of the Jump Street episodes, and also having a major impact on Depp as well.  The content of the episodes began to become less and less appealing to Depp and they also contained issues and parts for him to play that he totally disagreed with.  So, just as Depp had refused the public service announcements, Depp began refusing to do episodes.  Hence, enter Depp's cover, Richard Grieco as Officer Dennis Booker.  This may be a topic for disagreement, but it is fairly knowledgeable that Grieco was only cast to do the roles that Depp either didn't want to do or down right refused to do.  Depp had already played a role in which he had to set a cross on fire in a episode dealing with racism.  Depp found the approach to the whole racial topic wrong and refused to participate in future episodes that he totally disagreed with.  Thus, in complete disagreement with the episodes "Nemesis" in which a young boy is killed so a Jump Street cop won't blow his cover and "Next Victim" in which strong racial comments had to be thrown over the radio by a Jump Street cop, Depp refused to participate and forfeited $45,000 per episode to stand up for what he felt was right.  Grieco stepped in and played the lead role in both of these episodes.  It is evident when watching these two episodes, especially "Nemesis", that they were written with Depp's character in mind, but Depp still refused.  Depp became more and more disgusted with the episode topics and felt like the issues they were dealing with weren't in depth enough to have an impact on society.  With his life becoming more and more unhappy with each day, Depp began looking for a way out.

The Ending:
    Depp wanted out.  Depp was willing to do anything, with the exception of breaking his word and contract, to get out.  Depp began suggesting morbid story lines, refusing to complete episodes, refusing to read his lines and just improvise during filming, and even began refusing to watch the finished episodes upon completion.  Depp didn't want to be Tom Hanson any more.  Depp felt constrained by the creative limitations of 21 Jump Street and this teen idol image this series, the media, and the public had created for him.  Depp literally became a pain in the ass on the set in an attempt to get himself fired or at least let out of his contract.  It didn't work.  In desperation, Depp went to his agents to help him find his way out of his contract.  Depp's agents went to work, hired attorneys, and read into every possible yet legal way for Depp to be released from his contract.  Somehow, somewhere, in the fine print, Depp's agents found a way out for him.  In the end, after shooting his last episode "How I Saved the Senator" in Season Four (this was not the last episode of Season Four that Depp appeared in which was "Blackout" , but it was the last episode he filmed, "Blackout" was filmed earlier in the season), Depp was released from his contract.  Tracey Jacobs, Depp's Agent, commented upon Depp's career choices upon and after leaving the show by stating, "Johnny made a choice when he came out of the television series to take a left turn as opposed to the right.  If I had to quote something Johnny would or has said to describe him it would be, 'I have taken the road less traveled and that has made all the difference.' "

Conclusion and Summary:
    In conclusion, the reality of Johnny's experience is that, for him, it was very unpleasant and unhappy.  Depp has made many comments regarding his experience on 21 Jump Street such as that he totally disagreed with the show, thought it was wrong, labeled it as fascist, and has even said that it was like spying and a betraying trust because cops in high school were sent there to arrest kids for some crime that they may not have committed in the first place if it wasn't for someone they thought they could trust pushing them to do it.  But, in all fairness to the show, Depp has also stated, "I learned a lot of lessons from 21 Jump Street and it was very good for me in many ways.  It fed me, it put me on the map, so I can't really complain.  But, when you are doing a series like that there's really no creative controls-the word creative doesn't even exist in their vocabulary.  So I said to myself that the first chance I got, I was going to do exactly what I wanted to do and not compromise.  And that's exactly what I have done."  As mentioned earlier, there were some cast members who were envious of Johnny then and remain envious of him today.  These case members have been known to make sarcastic comments such as; "A Jump Street reunion without Johnny Depp.  Are you kidding me?" and other not-so-nice comments in regard to Johnny Depp as he directly relates to this show.  However, Depp also made some lifelong friends, such as Peter DeLuise who Depp still has contact and Frederic Forrest (Captain Jenko) who Johnny cast in his film, "The Brave".  So, Johnny wasn't much that different then as he is today, pretty much doing his own thing.
    Johnny Depp still stands up for what he believes in, he fights for it, and refuses to back down.  And, some 12 years later, Johnny Depp is as hot now, if not more so, that  he was during his Jump Street days.  Now, knowing Johnny's reasons for leaving and how much pain he really endured during his 21 Jump Street experience, ask yourself this, would you have done it differently and would you have really wanted Johnny to continue to live his life in unhappiness for the sake of the public?  We all miss 21 Jump Street, we all miss seeing Johnny Depp as Tom Hanson, but most of all we are all missing the answers to those burning questions that have been in our minds for years.  The questions of Who made Who?  Would 21 Jump Street have been as successful without Johnny Depp?  Would Johnny Depp be where he is today without 21 Jump Street?  Would there have been a Wade, Gilbert, Sam, Edward, William Blake, Ed Wood, etc. without first there being a Tom Hanson?  This is something that a Johnny Depp fan can only answer for themselves.  But hopefully in knowing Johnny's full side of the story, finding the answers for yourself may seem easier.  This is the reality of Jump Street and Johnny, sometimes it isn't what we expect, sometimes it isn't what we want, sometimes it bites, but it's always Pure DEPP!
 
 

Depp in 1987 on 21 Jump StreetDepp in 1999 H & M

The armband is the only connection between the pictures - Johnny Depp is really his own man!!!!!!

For further reference on 21 Jump Street and Johnny Depp, please visit the Interviews and Books section of  A Fan's Page for Johnny Depp. The views and opinions in this writing does not necessarily reflect those of the writer and host of 21 Depp Street (a part of A Fan's Page for Johnny Depp).

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