11 items
Filming Hunter S. Thompson's novel about his early-career stint as a reporter in Puerto Rico was clearly a labor of love for Depp. A longtime pal of the author (and Rolling Stone mainstay), Depp had portrayed Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, unearthed the long-unpublished Rum Diary manuscript from among Thompson's papers, and […]
The Restoration period in England under King Charles II in the late 17th century is seen as a time of creative, political and sexual license. Taking advantage of all three is Rochester (Depp), a playwright, satirist and philanderer, and frenemy to the king (John Malkovich). In Depp's portrayal, he fancies himself an outrageous rebel who […]
Depp reunites with his Sleepy Hollow love interest Christina Ricci in this period costume romance. She plays Suzie, a Russian Jewish refugee in the 1930s who winds up as a chorine in Paris. Depp is Cesar, a Gypsy (Romany) horseman who is part of the act, and with whom Sozie falls in love. With the […]
Julian Schnabel's searing biopic of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas properly belongs to Javier Bardem in the lead role, but Depp is daring in two supporting roles. In one, he's a drag queen named Bon Bon, boldly strutting his stuff in a Cuba that, after Castro's coup, suddenly had no room for flamboyance of any kind. […]
Chuck Workman's documentary, which played the festival circuit before resurfacing as an episode of PBS' American Masters series, traces the history of the Beat writers and the literary revolution they wrought. Depp appears on camera to read passages written by Jack Kerouac. (John Turturro does the same for Allen Ginsberg, and Dennis Hopper does the […]
The only feature (so far) that Depp has directed and co-written (along with his brother, D.P. Depp) is also the first to take advantage of Depp's claim of Native American ancestry. Clearly a family labor of love, it was surprisingly never released in American theaters. In this adaptation of a tale by Gregory MacDonald (Fletch), […]
In Jim Jarmusch's dreamlike Western, Depp is transfixing as William Blake, a tenderfoot accountant from the East who, through a series of misunderstandings, becomes a trigger-happy outlaw. Accompanying him is an Indian named Nobody (Gary Farmer) who, convinced that the wounded Blake is actually the psychedelic English poet of the same name, makes it his […]
Depp was already getting a reputation for quirkiness, thanks to his work with John Waters (Cry-Baby) and Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands), when he starred in this odd black-comic indie movie. Directed by celebrated Bosnian filmmaker Emir Kusturica (it's his only movie shot in the U.S., with an American cast), the indie movie features an unusual, […]
Depp and his then-fiancé, a pre-Twin Peaks Sherilyn Fenn, both auditioned for roles in the 1986 skateboarding movie Thrashin'. They both won their parts, but the producer overruled the director's choice of Depp. Fortunately, he landed a small role in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Vietnam War movie. He plays Lerner, a soldier in the platoon who […]
This witless teen sex comedy doesn't have much to recommend it except for the two then-unknowns in the lead roles: Depp and Rob Morrow. They're two horndogs who've infiltrated a private beach resort in the hopes of meeting bikini babes. Depp plays the slightly more suave one, Morrow (Northern Exposure, Numbers) the nerdier and more […]
Depp had come to Hollywood to be a rock musician, not an actor, but new pal Nicolas Cage changed his mind and helped him earn some cash on the side by landing him a role as a teen victim in the first Freddy Krueger movie. In Wes Craven's innovative horror classic, the 21-year-old plays the […]