There’s No One Like Johnny
The word on State Street is that Johnny Depp was spotted disguised as a
street person sitting on a bench across from the SBIFF Hub the first day of the
Santa Barbara International Film Festival, taking it all in incognito. After
seeing the shy actor accept the Maltin Modern Master Award on Thursday night, I
believe that this was probably a true sighting.
Arriving late to venue, Johnny Depp graciously attended to his fans and
accepted gifts on the red carpet, then quickly disappeared into the Arlington. Usually
the recipients of the tribute awards sit amongst the general public in reserved
seating; however this was not the case for Depp. Swept away to a back room he
was guided to an area to watch as Leonard Maltin, for whom the award is named,
introduced a montage of Depp’s “enduringly popular movies.”
Edward Scissorhands, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Black Mass, Dead Wood, Don Juan DeMarco,
Blow, Chocolat, Pirates of the Caribbean,
Sweeney Todd all merged together in
one great accolade to the actor with over 40 movies to his credit.
Almost reluctantly, Depp made his way on stage from a side curtain, receiving a standing ovation. He stopped exclaiming “Now I stand for you,” before taking
his seat next to Maltin. “This is not my favorite thing to do,” he admitted. “I
have no idea what I am doing here; that [montage] was ludicrous.”
Maltin got right to business talking about Depp’s transition from TV
star to Film star. “Playing the same character for 9 months out of the year can
really make you insane – it didn’t affect me…” Depp said with at sly grin. “It
was to pay rent… and I was never a good salesperson. I tried to get fired – a
lot!” Depp considers himself a musician first and acting on a television show
was not remotely close to what he strove toward. And why? “The best question in
the world to anything is ‘why.’ Why – ha!” Depp’s exclamation was met with an
awkward silence.
“Oh God, bemoaned Depp, "More clips?!” as Maltin went into the first
clips of the night. He turned away and throughout the clips, obviously
not comfortable watching himself on screen.
As more clips and discussion around the films emerged, funny stories
were craftily pulled from Depp by Maltin, a great gift of the moderator. On the
film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,
Johnny admitted he had been going through a hard time. Depp pondered if it was
necessary to play the part of Gilbert Grape, or just a coincidence. On co-star
Leo DiCaprio, he joked, again giving the crowd a sly grin, “He’s grown! Have
you seen him?”
Moving on to Don Juan DeMarco,
Depp contemplated the perspective of reality. “Who’s to say… what’s real to
one? Who’s to say?” It was here he fell in love with his idol Marlon Brando,
forging a friendship that would last a lifetime. “I liked playing opposite
Marlon Brando and I’m playing the
crazy one. How often does that come around?” Depp’s voice softened when he
spoke of Brando, telling us that he was not what people thought; he was all
about justice and equality. “There’s a saying that you should never meet your
heroes… I’ve met every one and I’ve never been let down.”
Names like Marlon Brando, Bill Murray, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and
Al Pacino. Working with Al Pacino, Depp realized that Pacino was “certifiably
insane,” and made a point to tell the actor, to which Al responded, “Oh yeah!
Oh Yeah! You didn’t know that? [Dramatic pause] You know you’re pretty f-ing*
strange yourself.” Ha!
Depp’s choice to do a Disney film arose from the non-stop cartoon
marathon he was subject to once he had a child. “How can I make a live action
performance within the parameters of a cartoon?” In cartoons you accept the
absurd as reality, you don’t question how Wyle Coyote only needs a band-aid
after a 1200 pound bolder falls on his head, and this is what Ed Wood called ‘a
suspension of disbelief.’ So he tried
something different, and made Jack Sparrow a more comical character – and
almost got fired! Again.
His first and only attempt at directing resulted in the film, The Brave, starring Marlon Brando. Depp
was proud to watch what Brando gave to him, but found it difficult to be both
star and director himself. Depp holds the right to the film domestically and
claims politics, and then the passing of Brando, prevented him from releasing
it in the US. However, after much prodding from Maltin, Depp promised to screen
the film at next year’s SBIFF and sealed the agreement with a gentleman’s
handshake.
More clips emerged, and it was obvious Depp’s talents easily ranged
from comedy, to drama, to mockery, and to musicals. Depp divulged he takes
influence from everything, “Why be rigid with any education? Take it from
everywhere!”
As the night came to an end, Scott Cooper, director of Black Mass,
presented the Maltin Modern Master Award to Depp. “Besides his awe inducing
performances and cinematic brilliance, it is his deep humanity that sets him
apart,” Cooper acknowledge. “There is no one like Johnny.”