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The Face
 Johnny
Depp is so beautiful it makes you want to cry. There are
very few men you could say truly have beauty. Marlon Brando had it but his was more Roman, the features imposing rather than dusky and Latino.
And you can't imagine Johnny's charcoal black hair receding and his body turning to fat. Keanu has the template but lacks soul behind those very brown eyes and Leonardo isjust a boy isn't he? It must be a crazy knowledge the numerous women linked to Johnny have - whatever efforts they go to dressing up for their man - he'll always turn more heads. Imagine waking up next to the guy! (form a queue) You spend hours in the bathroom, applying what? MAKE UP? Wake up! You got to face the sunlight with Johnny by your side!
Though few of us, this side of the pond had access to 21 Jump Street it brought Johnny a global fame he wasn't happy with. His face on High School lunchboxes throughout theUS. There were various pictures of him in various magazines but who could have guessed the scruffy wunderkind in Nightmare on Elm Street would blossom into Edward Scissorhands(for many still his finest moment?) The Gossip
Engaged to Winona Ryder when she was just seventeen, Johnny got his infamous tattoo (Winona Forever) and swore his undying love for her. She decided she was too young to settle down and so the tattoo was reduced to Win Forever apparently
(get it off Johnny!) He then spent four years with Croydon's
finest, Kate Moss; crying for a week after they split.
She was tired of his mood swings apparently. Now at the
age of thirty three (some say six) he absconded with Vanessa
(Joe Le Taxi) Paradis who subsequently had Johnny's child, Lily-Rose Melody.
Recent hot gossip places him snogging Christina Ricci
in a night-club while Vanessa and Lily-Rose were presumably tucked up
at home. This is an unsubstantiated rumour so we won't
be doing anything as puerile as repeat it and publish
it online…
Some
Film History Johnny
came to LA with a guitar in his hand and a lousy band
which split and he drifted into acting for the money.
He did dumb stuff like Private Resort - ever seen
it? No, thought not. From the Nightmare film into
the nightmare TV series and then Tim Burton waved his
magic wand. The fairy tale wonder of Edward Scissorhands
was a risky choice for both actor and director. Could
Johnny pull off the heartrending naivety of an angel with
shears for hands? The part combined vulnerability with
danger and first love with tragedy. Johnny had a little
help from Winona Ryder and she matched him blow for blow.
It always helps to have a co-star with similar strength,
talent and ability to work off and Johnny's erstwhile
acting career was launched. Then Benny and Joon, "that's okay," He said to Jonathan Ross in their interview, "you're allowed to hate it." Ross turned out to be a Buster Keaton fan but many would share Johnny's apprehension. I'm not going to go through and list the films, you can look them up on the Internet, special mention to fan ring sites such as www.bomis.com/rings/johnnydeppfans but I will talk about the one's I've seen. Cry Baby,
Dead Man, Arizona Dream, What's Eating Gilbert
Grape, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood.
1
Cry Baby - A John Waters singalong. Johnny gets
to show off his song and dance skills. The latent rock
and roll star gets one more glimmer. Film notable for
appearance of ex-porn star Tracy Lords, pre-chat show
Ricki Lake and ex-Warhol superstar Joe Dellasandro. Johnny's
quiff is especially memorable.
2
Dead Man - They don't make Westerns anymore. Plenty
of Jarmusch moments. "Why do people throw away guns in
movies or like drop them after a shoot? Guns are expensive,
man." Johnny looks good, in this, he's in profile mostly.
3
Arizona Dream - A wonderfully evocative, landscape, mindscape piece and Johnny gets to suck face with childhood
heroine Faye Dunaway (she puts her skirt over his head
when he's lying down.)
4
What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Johnny plays the
bro, who has to keep the family together, the walls from
falling in. Leonardo Di Caprio steals the film but Johnny's
part is interesting and nicely underplayed. Juliette Lewis
plays the signicant other.
5
Donnie Brasco - Poor Old Pacino, taken in by the
fresh faced kid. Johnny shows he can lie with the best
of them in all senses of the phrase. He stands his ground
with one of the heavyweights and doesn't get battered.
 6
Ed Wood - Possibly best film after Ed Scissorhands.
Who can top the naivety king, the gauche Mr Ed Wood? Movie
after movie of schlock and horror commingling in the worst
film makers guide to keeping going. Wood never loses the
faith, even after Sarah Jessica Parker leaves him, enough
to make any man think twice. Johnny pulls off one of the
hardest tasks in film acting; to make a nice guy believable and convincing. The force of good, be it incompetent good in this instance, is often underrated.
Persona
In
the Jonathan Ross television interview they drove around
LA and Johnny pointed out his old stomping ground. He
gave cigarettes to beggars, which might have seemed a
little pretentious but Johnny dished them out in his charmed,
unassuming manner and it was better than ignorance or
giving them money. But then why not give the money? I
always think, if that's what they need? People always
say, don't give them money, don't give them money, they'll
only spend it on drink, drugs, whatever… but if that's
what helps them through (what's this got to do with Johnny
Depp - Ed) I was watching the programme with a friend
of mine who anchors a travel programme and is a raconteur
in the old sense. When the credits ran he made some catty
remark about, "well he's really engaging company." Meaning
Johnny and his cool had bored him to tears. But Johnny's
cool, just is. There's no put on with him and yeah, maybe
you don't get all perfectly crafted tales and anecdotes
but you still get the odd gem. You might even get a glimpse
of that smile.
But
wasn't it a bit naff to buy Jack Kerouac's old raincoat
for twenty thousand dollars, or was it two thousand? Well
maybe… but then if you're a big fan, why not? It is a
collectors item after all and Johnny has contributed readings
to Beat records and a short piece toThe Rolling Stone:
Book of the Beats. Anyone in our cynical age who
can write his own take on the "first thought - best thought"
sketching style of Kerouac et all deserves applause in
my eyes. And it ain't half bad either…
"I was not going to be doing other people's taxes and going home at 5.37pm to pat my dog's head and sit down to my meat-and-two-vegetable table, waiting for Jeopardy
to pop on the glass tit, the Pat Sajak on my own private
gameshow, in the bellybutton of the universe, Miramar,
Florida."
Nice
one Johnny. Jack would be proud. Johnny did his share
of the shit jobs that are the character building foundation
course for the character actor. What did he do? Labouring,
mechanic, salesman, screen printer, and the obligatory
working in a petrol station.
Fill
her up madam? Certainly.
Did you manage to see Johnny with the aforementioned Christina Ricci
in Tim Burton's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
JOHNNY DEPP MOVIE TOP TEN by JACK HUNTER
PUBLISHED by CREATION BOOKS at £12.95 ISBN:1871592895 www.creationbooks.com
www.bomis.com/rings/johnnydeppfans
www.johnny-depp.net |
