Exclusive Interview on Elle Spain

🇪🇸 Toca para versión en español

Almost on time! With a 15-minute delay, Johnny Depp (Kentucky, USA, 1963) appears on the Zoom screen. A beret tilts on his head, he wears small tinted glasses, a pink t-shirt under an open shirt, and heaps of bracelets, leather straps, and rings. Without a doubt, it’s him. He’s sitting on a sofa somewhere on planet Earth. He declares his age: “I’m 2,000 years old,” officially 61. If time travel were possible, he’d be on board one, “knowing how good it was before, I really don’t want to live in these times.”

However, Depp is in good spirits: “Before, you let Beauty editors, they should have sent the ugly editor (laughs). It’s a good start. His playful humor reminds one of Jack Sparrow, whose 29 million IG followers eagerly await the sixth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. For now, his course is that of a film director. He just finished Modi, which tells the adventures of Modigliani along with his Parisian bohemian companions.

Suddenly, the cinema legend freezes on my screen, but his voice is his trademark: a slow flow and warm, deep texture, peppered with anecdotes. Depp has, under his old rock’n’roll belt, a filmography as variegated as his now not-so-tattooed arms (you can’t see the rest). From his first film, Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 to Jeanne du Barry in 2023, the actor has starred in 99 films over four decades, including titles like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Cry-Baby, Donnie Brasco, Arizona Dream, and Dead Man. These legendary roles and characters have left an indelible mark on cinema history. He’s worked with directors like Tim Burton on Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow… Although “not without effort,” he could soon reappear on screen as Lucifer in Terry Gilliam’s upcoming film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, reaching a round number of 100 films.

Besides his prolific career as an actor, producer, and budding filmmaker, he is also a guitarist and singer (music was his first love) with his band, The Hollywood Vampires (alongside Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, and Joe Perry), and with his late friend Jeff Beck. Recently, he surprised the world with his art, creating Friends & Heroes, a pop art collection depicting people who have inspired him, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, and Al Pacino.

Today, crowning ten years of loyal collaboration with Christian Dior Parfums, he has signed a new, unique contract in the world of men’s perfumes for its longevity and insolent success. Sales have never declined, quite the opposite. Orchestrated by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, Depp joined an olfactory revolution: a fresh fragrance with a unique alcohol-free formula based on needle leaf. Now he leaves the desert of previous commercials (for Eau de Toilette and Elixir) and plunges into imposing waterfalls, always under the powerful direction of Jean-Baptiste Mondino.

But it is a paternal Depp who starts the interview: “Every now and then, you take a peripheral glance, and I see my daughter, Lily-Rose, on a magazine cover, recently in ELLE. It will always be one of those ‘Oh my God! Stop the car!’ moments. It’s special, it’s deep. My arms pulled from those pools… Her eyes are pools, like her mother’s, very much like hers. Mondino is still behind the camera in this new success, Sauvage Eau Forte. “How did this collaboration start?” It started with Jean-Baptiste because he had worked with Vanessa (Paradis) for many years. We began talking about something called Sauvage with Dior in 2015. When they brought me in, they had such great ideas that it didn’t seem like a product to me. The films we made with him are strangely something that could be much more satisfying than cinema, where there’s a pattern and a certain amount of math and exposure, things have to make sense. I felt so free from any formula, from what could be made of me. So I had the opportunity to absorb something in a very different, very advanced, abstract, and poetic way, a rare beast nowadays. Sauvage is the best-selling fragrance in the world, both for men and women? Why do you think it’s so successful? In itself, it’s quite unique. I remember sitting on a rock once, in the middle of a rock, very cold and hard, the purest form of amber, it surprised me because it was an amazing thing (or a substance of animal origin). Now I wear it not because I have to, but because it’s complex and elegant. It reminds me of another time, its scent almost transports me to Paris in the 1920s.

Does Paris hold a special place in your heart?

“Oh, yes! It’s still incredible: the culture, its people, the quality of life. People live, they don’t just exist, they have opinions and don’t try to agree or point fingers at you. Paris, and France itself, is a different planet. Millions of years ago, when I met it, I was very young, and Hemingway’s book A Moveable Feast, which is about my life there. I know Paris was inside me. A few years later, it became the magic city when Vanessa and I moved and had our first daughter (Lily-Rose). Those were, and still are, the most beautiful days of my life.”

Is Paris the setting for your next film, Modi? What drew you to the painter’s story?

I’ve always been fascinated by Modigliani, of course, but also by many other painters. I’m interested in human beings, where the impulse comes from, creativity, because it’s not ambition that drives them, they don’t start painting to get rich.

Would you say it’s a biopic?

No. It’s just three days in the life of Modigliani (Riccardo Scamarcio), capturing a chaotic series of events through the streets and bars of Paris during World War I with his bohemian companions: Maurice Utrillo (Bruno Gouery), Chaim Soutine (Ryan McParland), and his muse and lover, Beatrice Hastings (Antonia Desplat).

How did Al Pacino get involved in Modi?

While filming Donnie Brasco (1997) with Al, we talked about this project. He wanted to direct me, and I suppose he thought I would play Modi, but anyway. Four years later, he called and said (he begins mimicking Pacino): “Hey, John, remember that Modigliani idea I had? You should direct it. I know you can.” He handed it over to me, and I was fortunate enough to participate in its development and direction. After The Brave in 1997, this is your second film as a director. Is directing easy for you? I don’t know if I think like a director, but I love observing people, their behavior. I like guiding actors to trust me, and I trust them. I know it’s easier said than done, for me it’s like being at a rodeo with a rider.

Is directing easy for you?

I don’t know if I think like a director, but I love observing people, their behavior. I like guiding actors to trust me, and I trust them. I know it’s easier said than done, for me it’s like being at a rodeo with a rider. If you film out of sequence, you have to create a mental map, knowing where you are and where you’re going. It’s like riding a musical wave; the film itself tells you what it wants to be, where it wants to go. Modigliani almost never painted eyes. Do you think it’s because of their ability to reveal the soul? I wish I knew what a soul is! But what’s behind the eyes is much more important. That’s where the truth resides. I used to draw myself with one eye. It was because, I realized later, I was born without being able to see out of my left eye, apart from light and shapes, so I’ve never looked at anything normally (laughs). Then I was painting a picture of my mother when she was about 16, and when I got to the eyes, even though I’m looking at the photograph, in my head I kept seeing my mother’s gaze. It ended up without eyes. I knew I could never replicate them. It must be something similar for Modigliani; maybe he didn’t want the soul! Sometimes he painted eyes, but they were Modiglianesque.

Last year, your pop art style paintings, Friends and Heroes 1 and 2 sold out in a matter of hours. What pushed you to make your artwork public?

I’ve always painted! When these wonderful people from Pantheon came into my life and saw my paintings hidden in storage for years, I was surprised that they were so excited, proposing to sell them. After a period where I was very limited, I swore to myself that I would never feel that way again, nor would others. They came to me at the right time. I just let it happen and gave myself over to chance. Let’s roll the dice! (laughs).

Is art an escape for you?

I can’t forget art because it’s not up to me to define it that way. If someone sees it that way, great, but I refuse to consider myself an artist, even though I apply that same approach.

A song that could express your thoughts?

I have to choose three: Saint-Germain by Vanessa (Paradis), Jackadi by Vanessa, and Bliss by Vanessa. They encompass the right change in my existence, in our lives, bringing those children into the world, and then learning from them. They are so smart it’s like you went to sleep and they were 3 years old, and you woke up and they were 25 (Lily-Rose) and 22 (Jack). It’s very strange, but it’s the best, most sublime, and abstract, it’s the driving force. So those three songs would need to be together.

What else should we find on your turntable?

My favorite song in the world since I was a kid was Le Mer by Charles Trenet or the Bobby Darin version Beyond The Sea. It remains the most beautiful and powerful romantic theme. It’s magical. I also have great admiration for David Bowie, for stars and talents known from Jay-Z to Mumford & Sons, Robert Johnson, or Captain Beefheart. Or Glenn Gould, Goldberg… My taste is very varied. I really love everything because it’s pure. You can tell; there’s very little Auto-Tune!

We can’t forget your dearest friend, the legendary Jeff Beck, with whom you produced the album 18 two years ago. Tell us about him…

Anything with Jeff was very special. I am aware of how singular those moments were at Jazz in Marciac (France) and at the Olympia in Paris, and how this only happens once in a lifetime. Every night with Jeff on stage was precious. He is undoubtedly the most influential guitarist in history. We were as close as one can be, and we just kept laughing constantly.

How do you deal with death?

I’m not sure we ever truly lose anyone because they’ve planted so many seeds in us, in our memories, and in what we appreciate; I think of Jeff every day.

You also proclaim your love for writing. Is writing a kind of outlet for you?

I can’t leave the house without a pen, paper, and a book. I can’t write on a computer, so I do it freehand or use a typewriter with two fingers. Fortunately, my typist for many years has been Hunter S. Thompson with letters like in Las Vegas, 1972, and having immersed myself in the film (directed by Terry Gilliam in 1998), I write as he did. It’s easy to look at something and think you can know exactly what or who it is. If you’re watching a person and they meet someone else in a bar, both are acting. The guy has an interest, and the girl, an ear. You can read the falsehood in the character. Then, you might connect with something real.

How do you achieve that?

It takes time to judge, analyze, and all that. Life is too abstract and short to spend your days feeling miserable about someone. To give it to another, for example, what does it require first? That you care! So you have to love it. You have to love even the truth to keep that poison in one place entirely. I’ve lost a lot in recent years because of the things that have happened to me. What I’ve been through has brought me back to many dear friends like Jeff (Beck) and his wife, Sandra, Tom Waits, and Kathleen, that, and my dear friends who managed to bring me back to myself and my sense of humor. If you don’t laugh at yourself, someone else surely will! (laughs).

What’s on the last page of your notebook?

(Shows an abstract portrait of a woman). I’ve been seeing Art Deco pieces. I don’t want to live in these times, so I try to remodel a different era. I don’t like modernity; I can’t tolerate computers. My weakness is a good pen that doesn’t smudge. Maybe I was born in the wrong era. That’s just how it is!

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