Monday, March 19, 2007

[rosta masta!] Johnny Depp




Source:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019485

The delicate-featured Johnny Depp played with over 15 rock bands before turning to acting. While he could have been a conventional leading man, the charismatic actor has, instead, often chosen unusual and odd roles. Although he did not initially prove to be "big box office" for these quirky choices, Depp nevertheless won the respect of Hollywood and the critics as a serious and dedicated artists—indeed, he was an "actor's actor." He would eventually emerge as an audience favorite as well, as his reputation for delivering fine, unpredictable performances grew with each new role. Debuting as the heroine's doomed boyfriend in Wes Craven's original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), he next starred alongside Rob Morrow in the teen romp "Private Resort" (1985) and appeared as the translator Lerner in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning "Platoon" (1986).

With his chiseled looks, thick hair and sleepy-smoky voice, Depp achieved teen idol status as Officer Tom Hanson in Stephen J Cannell's "21 Jump Street" (Fox, 1987-90). His character, established in the pilot as the son of a cop, looked too young to intimidate street thugs, despite being over 21 and an honors graduate of the Academy. Instead, he was assigned to a unit of undercover cops who infiltrates a seemingly never-ending supply of high schools where ne'er-do-wells want to keep the good kids from learning. After four seasons of the foolishness, Depp wanted out and the show did not survive his withdrawal. Hoping to make the transition to the big screen, he eschewed offers of conventional young leading man roles and returned to features with two memorable, offbeat characterizations: John Waters' "Cry-Baby" and Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" (both 1990). His physical grace and expressive features proved apt for the Chaplinesque Edward and the nimble Elvis-inspired “Cry-Baby.”

Depp's subsequent film career has exhibited an unwillingness to settle for standard heartthrob roles and a predilection for distinctive filmmakers and material. In Emir Kusturica's cult film "Arizona Dream" (1992), Depp, portrayed a young man unwillingly called to Arizona by his uncle (Jerry Lewis) who wants him to take over the family car dealership, anchoring the uneven feature which veered from slapstick to bathos. "Benny & Joon" (1993) presented Depp as a modern-day circus performer who, in the course of romancing a mentally disturbed woman (Mary Stuart Masterston), performs set pieces that recall the silent clowns (i.e., Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd). That same year, he lent gravity to the title role in Lasse Hallstrom's "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", a Midwesterner trapped in a small town by familial obligations. He went on to win considerable critical acclaim in a reunion with Burton, "Ed Wood" (1994), a biopic that cast him as the famed cult director whose fondness for cross-dressing doesn't prevent him from creating delightfully bad films.

Finally capitalizing on his good looks, Depp donned a mask and Castilian accent for the title role in the contemporary fairy tale "Don Juan DeMarco" (1995), playing a modern incarnation of the famous lover opposite fellow risk takers Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway. Following his foray to action features in John Badham's "Nick of Time" (also 1995), he turned up in Jim Jarmusch's quirky Western "Dead Man" (1996), as a mild-mannered accountant named William Blake who finds himself branded as an outlaw. Adding to his cast of outsiders, Depp essayed the title role in Mike Newell's "Donnie Brasco" (1997), an FBI undercover agent who infiltrates a crime family and befriends its volatile leader. Well cast (in his first truly adult role) and more appealing than in some of his previous efforts, Depp won much praise for his layered portrayal and especially for his interplay with co-star Al Pacino (as his mentor). Their surrogate father-son relationship drove the film and brought humanity to a story that could have devolved into standard Hollywood cliché.

Depp made his feature directorial debut with "The Brave" (1997), a film he also co-wrote (with his older brother D P Depp and Paul McCudden) and in which he starred as a father who agrees to play the victim in a snuff film to earn money for his family's well-being. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Brave", which also featured Brando and Clarence Williams III, earned mostly negative reviews, with most faulting its weak script. He suffered another box office disappointment as gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson's drug-crazed alter ego Raoul Duke in Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998). Always looking to step away from his pretty boy persona, Depp shocked some fans by sporting a bald pate, but his clipped staccato delivery and unusual body language could not bring substance to the essentially one-dimensional character—besides, Bill Murray had done a better impression of the Good Doctor in “Where the Buffalo Roam” (1980). Despite being a near-literal translation of Thompson’s novel, the movie failed to bring to life his rambling and often hilarious prose.

Depp may have chosen "The Astronaut's Wife" (the first of his three 1999 thrillers) for its opportunity to play good boy-gone wrong under alien influence, but the result was another one-note performance in a film that was not as bad as the studio's failure to screen it for critics had suggested. From one movie resembling Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby", he moved to "The Ninth Gate" (released in the USA in 2000), another supernatural thriller, this one actually directed by Polanski. As a rumpled, bespectacled book dealer in search of a 17th-century volume allegedly co-authored by Satan, Depp was the soft, unassertive core of a film thought by most (but not all) to be a journey to nowhere. His last movie that year, "Sleepy Hollow" (based on the Washington Irving "legend"), matched him again with the imaginative vision of friend Burton and officially ended his losing streak. The studio nixed his notion of playing Ichabod Crane with a long pointy nose, so he appeared looking quite beautiful for most of his biggest commercial hit yet, though he did go against the heroic type with his prissy, neurotic and not very courageous characterization.

The success of "Sleepy Hollow" did not make Depp pursue more mainstream fare. Desperately afraid of complacency, he continued to make movies at breakneck speed. He and friend Sean Penn acted in Julian Schnabel's anything-but-commercial "Before Night Falls"(2000), the story of Cuban poet-novelist Reinaldo Arenas, and he also donned gold teeth for his role as Christina Ricci's gypsy love interest in Sally Potter's World War II drama "The Man Who Cried" (2001). He returned to the world of drugs for Ted Demme's "Blow" (2001), playing George Jung, an American who became one of the major traffickers of cocaine for Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar. Depp next took on the role of Inspector Frederick Abberline, a London detective and opium addict embroiled in the Jack the Ripper murders of the 1880s in the Hughes brothers' adaptation of writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell's well-researched comic book series "From Hell" (2001). Although the movie was stylish but superficial, Depp was outstanding as the haunted policeman who comes alive and learns to love again amid the Whitechapel horrors. The actor was equally dazzling as Captain Jack Sparrow, the hero of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" (2003), a movie derived from the beloved Disney theme park attraction. Capping his teeth with gold and basing his performance on the swaggering, dissipated rock star Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Depp was a lively tour de force in the adventure film which was a surprise hit during the sequel-heavy summer of 2003. The actor's performance was so appreciated, he later found himself in the rare position of being nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for a comedic performance in a commercially-minded blockbuster. That same year, Depp had a turn as Sands, the corrupt CIA agent who lures El Mariachi out of seclusion for a dangerous mission in director Robert Rodriguez's third film in the successful series, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico."

In 2004 his turn as an author caught up in accusations of plagiarism and stalked by his accuser in the Stephen King-adapted horror/thriller "Secret Window" (2004) drew little attention, but later that year the actor mesmerized critics and audiences with his turn as "Peter Pan" scribe J.M. Barrie in the highly praised "Finding Neverland" Depp delivered a subtle but deeply emotional performance as the adult playwright who, despite his age and wisdom, wishes to never grow up. His plutonic relationship with the mother of four young boys (Kate Winslet) provided the film’s more poignant and honest moments, as the two shared a love devoid of any sexual tensions. Depp earned his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance.

Then it was on to another more outrageous characterization, this time the magical candymaker Willie Wonka for Depp's frequent collaborator Burton's version of author Roald Dahl's "Charlie & the Chocloate Factory," which had also inspired the 1971 children's favorite "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Burton's interpretation hewed closer to the book, and was thus darker, while Depp's Wonka was both inspired and a bit more off-putting—many viewers found shades of pop singer Michael Jackson in the performance, and while Depp admitted he saw the connection, parodying the singer wasn't his intention: instead he was thinking of Captain Kangaroo or Mr. Rogers, with a dash of another Rolling Stone, Brian Jones. That same year he provided the voice of Victor Van Dort, a Victorian lad whisked away to the underworld to wed a mysterious undead woman in his frequent collaborator Burton's stop-motion animated feature film "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride."

He squeezed in one more film in 2005, "The Libertine," a rare all-out misfire in which he played the second Earl of Rochester, a 17th-century hedonist whose decadent life dissolves into self-destructive chaos and debauchery—he ultimately loses his nose. But as the Los Angeles Times opined "that a major lure for the venturesome Depp was the chance to play a grotesque...there's more in that role for the actor, however, than there is for us." Depp revived Captain Jack Sparrow for the inevitable sequel, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006), a harrowing, energetic and worthy addition to the swashbuckling franchise. Adopting the same swagger as before—albeit with a more effete touch—Depp again outweighed costar Orlando Bloom and displayed fine chemistry with a game Keira Knightley in a story that pitted the three against undead pirate Davey Jones—and sometimes themselves—in a quest to find a valued treasure that will allow its possessor to control supernatural forces. “Dead Man’s Chest” went on to break several box office records, including biggest single-day gross and biggest opening weekend ever, paving the way for the third installment, “Pirates of the Caribbean 3,” which was shot simultaneously with the second.

  • Also Credited As:
    John Christopher Depp II
  • Born:
    John Christopher Depp II on 06/09/1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky
  • Job Titles:
    Actor, Musician, Director, Producer, Gas station attendant, Pen salesman
Family
  • Brother: Daniel Depp. older
  • Daughter: Lily-Rose Melody Depp. born on May 27, 1999; mother, Vanessa Paradis
  • Father: John Christopher Depp. divorced Depp's mother when he was 15 (c. 1978)
  • Mother: Betty Sue Palmer. Depp has a tattoo with his mother's name on his left arm; divorced Depp's father when he was 15 (c. 1978)
  • Sister: Christie Dembrowski. born c. 1961; handles Depp's affairs from her Florida home
  • Sister: Debbie Depp. older
  • Son: Jack Depp. born April 9, 2002; mother Vanessa Paradis
Significant Others
  • Companion: Jennifer Grey. engaged; no longer together
  • Companion: Kate Moss. born on January 16, 1974; announced engagement in 1995; separated in 1997; reunited briefly; split in May 1998
  • Companion: Vanessa Paradis. French; born c. 1972; together from June 1998; mother of Depp's two children
  • Companion: Jennifer Grey. engaged; no longer together
  • Companion: Kate Moss. born on Janauary 16, 1974; had announced engagement in 1995; separated in 1997; reunited briefly; permanently separated in May 1998
  • Companion: Sherilyn Fenn. no longer together
  • Companion: Vanessa Paradis. French; born c. 1972; together from June 1998; mother of Depp's daughter
  • Companion: Winona Ryder. together from 1990 to 1993; announced engagement; Depp had a tattoo of 'Winona Forever' on his arm, which he has altered to say the more appropriate 'Wino Forever': "It's no coincidence that I ended up in France. I have a deep appreciation of the grape"
Milestones
  • 1969 Moved to Miramar, Florida
  • 1983 Moved to Los Angeles with band, The Kids; played lead guitar
  • 1984 Introduced by his then-wife Lori Allison to actor Nicolas Cage, who in turn arranged a meeting with an agent; agent set up audition for feature acting debut in Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street"; the director's daughter Jessica also played a part in convincing her father to cast Depp
  • 1985 First screen lead, "Private Resort"
  • 1985 TV acting debut in episode of "Lady Blue" (ABC)
  • 1986 Had small role in Oliver Stone's "Platoon"
  • 1986 TV-movie debut, "Slow Burn" (Showtime)
  • 1987 Starred as a baby-faced undercover cop in TV series, "21 Jump Street" (Fox)
  • 1987 Began working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation (date approximate)
  • 1990 First hit movie, Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands", co-starring then-girlfriend Winona Ryder
  • 1990 Headlined John Waters' "Cry-Baby", playing Elvis-inspired, leather-clad title role; first film acting with Iggy Pop
  • 1992 Appeared along with Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway in Emir Kusturica's "Arizona Dream"
  • 1993 Impressively recreated silent-comedy routines of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in "Benny and Joon"
  • 1993 Opened L.A. club, The Viper Room
  • 1993 Starred in the title role of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"
  • 1994 Directed the eight-minute short film "Banter" for DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
  • 1994 Played infamous, cross-dressing, B-movie director "Ed Wood"; second film with Burton
  • 1995 Acted opposite Marlon Brando in "Don Juan DeMarco"
  • 1995 Formed the rock group P, making major label debut on Capitol Records
  • 1995 Made first action film, John Badham's "Nick of Time"; cast as a mild-mannered accountant who becomes embroiled in an assassination scheme
  • 1995 Purchased first home in Los Angeles; house once owned by Bela Lugosi
  • 1996 Starred as William Blake in Jim Jarmusch's post-modern Western "Dead Man"; film also featured Iggy Pop
  • 1997 Earned some of the best reviews of his career as the title character in "Donnie Brasco"; based on the book about an FBI agent who infiltrated the Mob
  • 1997 Feature directorial debut, "The Brave", reteamed him with Brando; also wrote and co-starred; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; Pop wrote the score
  • 1998 Portrayed Raoul Duke in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"; first film with Christina Ricci
  • 1999 Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (November 16)
  • 1999 Reteamed with Burton for "Sleepy Hollow", loosely based on the Washington Irving story; played opposite Christina Ricci
  • 1999 Starred as corruptible rare-book dealer hired to find satanic texts in Roman Polanski's supernatural thriller "The Ninth Gate" (released in USA in March 2000)
  • 1999 Starred opposite Charlize Theron in the thriller "The Astronaut's Wife"
  • 2000 Had two roles in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls", the biopic of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas; played an imprisoned drag queen with a gift for smuggling and a brutally officious army officer
  • 2000 Played a gold-toothed Gypsy in love with Ricci in Sally Potter's World War II drama "The Man Who Cried"; screened at Venice; released in USA in 2001
  • 2001 Cast as British policeman with unorthodox means of tracking a serial killer in the thriller "From Hell", about the "Jack the Ripper" murders in London
  • 2001 Portrayed American George Jung, one of the major cocaine traffickers for Columbian kingpin Pablo Escobar, in Ted Demme's "Blow"
  • 2003 Played a sociopathic CIA agent in the Robert Rodriguez western feature "Once Upon A Time In Mexico"
  • 2003 Starred in the blockbuster hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a comedy or musical; received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
  • 2004 Plays a writer who is accused of plagiarism by a strange man, who then starts haunting him in "The Secret Window"
  • 2004 Portrayed 'Peter Pan' author J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland" also starring Kate Winslet; received a Golden Globe, SAG and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor
  • 2005 Cast as Willy Wonka, in Tim Burton's remake of the classic tale "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor
  • 2006 Reprised the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
  • Reteamed with Terry Gilliam to play a modern-day ad executive whisked back in time in "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"; shooting began in 2000 but was put on hold when leading actor Jean Rochefort suffered a double disc hernia
  • Sold ball-point pens by phone before he began acting
  • Starred as a 17th century poet in "The Libertine" (lensed 2004)
  • Started own rock group at age 13; subsequently played in 15 other bands
  • Will reprise role of journalist Hunter S. Thompson, in "The Rum Diary," based on Thompson's very first novel, which journals his career and personal escapades in 1950's Puerto Rico (lensed 2005)

Actor Credits

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Posted By vadis to rosta masta! at 3/19/2007 06:11:00 AM
Diposting oleh di

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