John Christopher Depp II is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards.

Depp made his feature film debut in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and appeared in Platoon (1986), before rising to prominence as a teen idol on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987–1990). In the 1990s, Depp acted mostly in independent films with auteur directors, often playing eccentric characters. These included Cry-Baby (1990), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Benny and Joon (1993), Dead Man (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Depp also began his longtime collaboration with the director Tim Burton, portraying the leads in the films Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), and Sleepy Hollow (1999).

Early life

John Christopher Depp II was born on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, the youngest of four children of waitress Betty Sue Depp (née Wells; later Palmer) and civil engineer John Christopher Depp. Depp's family moved frequently during his childhood, eventually settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970. His parents divorced in 1978 when he was 15, and his mother later married Robert Palmer, whom Depp has called "an inspiration".

Depp's mother gave him a guitar when he was 12, and he began playing in various bands. He dropped out of Miramar High School at 16 in 1979 to become a rock musician. He attempted to go back to school two weeks later, but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician.[12] In 1980, Depp began playing in a band called The Kids. After modest local success in Florida, the band moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, changing its name to Six Gun Method. In addition to the band, Depp worked a variety of odd jobs, such as in telemarketing. In December 1983, Depp married makeup artist Lori Anne Allison, the sister of his band's bassist and singer. The Kids split up before signing a record deal in 1984, and Depp began collaborating with the band Rock City Angels. He co-wrote their song "Mary", which appeared on their debut Geffen Records album Young Man's Blues. Depp and Allison divorced in 1985.

Career

Early role and 21 Jump Street

Depp moved to Los Angeles with his band when he was 20. After the band split up, Depp's then-wife Lori Ann Allison introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage. After they became drinking buddies, Cage advised him to pursue acting. Depp had been interested in acting since reading a biography of James Dean and watching Rebel Without a Cause. Cage helped Depp get an audition with Wes Craven for A Nightmare on Elm Street; Depp, who had no acting experience, said he "ended up acting by accident". Thanks in part to his catching the eye of Craven's daughter, Depp landed the role of the main character's boyfriend, one of Freddy Krueger's victims.

1990-2002: Independent films and early collaborations with Tim Burton

Disillusioned by his experiences as a teen idol in 21 Jump Street, Depp began taking roles he found more interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office. His first film release in 1990 was John Waters's Cry-Baby, a musical comedy set in the 1950s. Although not a box-office success upon its release, over the years it has gained cult classic status. Also in 1990, Depp played the title character in Tim Burton's romantic fantasy film Edward Scissorhands opposite Dianne Wiest and Winona Ryder. The film was a commercial and critical success with a domestic gross of $53 million. In preparation for the role, Depp watched many Charlie Chaplin films to study how to create sympathy without dialogue. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Depp's performance, writing that he "artfully expresses the fierce longing in gentle Edward; it's a terrific performance", while Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote that he "brings the eloquence of the silent era to this part of few words, saying it all through bright black eyes and the tremulous care with which he holds his horror-movie hands". Depp earned his first Golden Globe nomination for the film. Owing to this role, a species of extinct arthropod with prominent claws was named after Depp as Kootenichela deppi (chela is Latin for claws or scissors).

Depp had no film releases in the next two years, except a brief cameo in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), the sixth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He appeared in three films in 1993. In the romantic comedy Benny and Joon, he played an eccentric and illiterate silent film fan who befriends a mentally ill woman and her brother; it became a sleeper hit. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that Depp "may look nothing like Buster Keaton, but there are times when he genuinely seems to become the Great Stone Face, bringing Keaton's mannerisms sweetly and magically to life". Depp received a second Golden Globe nomination for the performance.

2003-2011

In 2003, Depp starred in the Walt Disney Pictures adventure film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a major box office success. He earned widespread acclaim for his comic performance as pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, and received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and won a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Actor as well as an MTV Movie Award. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and that he modeled the character after The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew. Studio executives had at first been ambivalent about Depp's portrayal, but the character became popular with audiences. In his other film release in 2003, Robert Rodriguez' action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Depp played a corrupt CIA agent. A moderate box-office success, it received average to good reviews, with Depp's performance in particular receiving praise.

Depp next starred as an author with writer's block in the thriller Secret Window (2004), based on a short story by Stephen King. It was a moderate commercial success but received mixed reviews.

2012-2020: Career setbacks

By 2012, Depp was one of the world's biggest film stars, and was listed by the Guinness World Records as the world's highest-paid actor, with earnings of US$75 million. That year, he and his 21 Jump Street co-stars Peter DeLuise and Holly Robinson reprised their roles in cameo appearances in the series' feature film adaptation. Depp also starred in and co-produced his eighth film with Tim Burton, Dark Shadows (2012), alongside Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eva Green. The film was based on a 1960s Gothic television soap opera of the same name, which had been one of his favorites as a child. The film's poor reception in the United States brought Depp's star appeal into question.

After Infinitum Nihil's agreement with WB expired in 2011, Depp signed a multi-year first-look deal with Walt Disney Studios. The first film made in the collaboration was The Lone Ranger (2013), in which Depp starred as Tonto. Depp's casting as a Native American brought accusations of whitewashing, and the film was not well received by the public or the critics, causing Disney to take a US$190 million loss. Following a brief cameo in the independent film Lucky Them (2013), Depp starred as an AI-studying scientist in the sci-fi thriller Transcendence (2014), which was yet another commercial failure, and earned mainly negative reviews. His other roles in 2014 were a minor supporting part as The Wolf in the film adaptation of Into the Woods, and a more substantial appearance as eccentric French-Canadian ex-detective in Kevin Smith's horror-comedy Tusk, in which he was credited by the character's name, Guy LaPointe.

In 2015, Depp appeared in two films produced by Infinitum Nihil. The first was comedy-thriller Mortdecai, in which he acted opposite Gwyneth Paltrow. The film was a critical and commercial failure and brought both stars Golden Raspberry nominations. The second film, Black Mass (2015), in which he played Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger, was better received. Critics from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety called it one of Depp's best performances to date, and the role earned Depp his third nomination for the Best Actor SAG award. However, the film failed to bring back its production costs. Depp also made a cameo appearance in the critically panned London Fields, starring his then-wife Amber Heard, which was to be released in 2015, but its general release was delayed by litigation until 2018. In addition to his work in films in 2015, French luxury fashion house Dior signed Depp as the face of their men's fragrance, Sauvage, and he was inducted as a Disney Legend.

2021-present

In March 2021, City of Lies, which was originally scheduled for 2018, was released in theaters and streaming services. The same month, an online petition to bring Depp back to the Pirates franchise, begun four months earlier, reached its goal of 500,000 signatures. His Pirates co-star Kevin McNally also expressed support for Depp returning to the role. In July 2021, Andrew Levitas, the director of Minamata (2020), accused MGM of trying to bury the film due to Depp's involvement, with Depp claiming he is being boycotted by the Hollywood industry and calling his changed reputation an "absurdity of media mathematics". Minamata was released in the UK and Ireland in August 2021, and in North America in December 2021. The film received positive reviews, with multiple publications praising Depp's performance as his best in years. Depp also continues as the face of Dior's men's fragrance, Sauvage.

In August 2022, Depp is set to direct Modigliani, a film about Amedeo Modigliani, which he will co-produce alongside Al Pacino and Barry Navidi. The film is based on a play by Dennis McIntyre, which was previously adapted for the 2004 film of the same name, from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski. Principal photography will commence in 2023. He made a surprise cameo appearance at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards

Reception and public image

In the 1990s, Depp was seen as a new type of male film star that rejected the norms of that role. After becoming a teen idol in 21 Jump Street, he publicly protested against the image, and with his subsequent film and public relations choices began to cultivate a new public persona. The Sydney Morning Herald characterized Depp in the 1990s as the "bad boy of Hollywood"; Depp's chain smoking, recreational drug use and drinking habits were generally documented during this time. According to The Guardian journalist Hadley Freeman in 2020:

"Along with Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, he was part of a holy trinity of grunge heart-throbs. They were the opposite of the Beverly Hills, 90210 boys, or Brad Pitt and DiCaprio, because they seemed embarrassed by their looks, even resentful of them. ...This uninterest in their own prettiness made them seem edgy, even while their prettiness softened that edge. They signified not just a different kind of celebrity, but a different kind of masculinity: desirable but gentle, manly but girlish. Depp in particular was the cool pinup it was safe to like, and the safe pinup it was cool to like. We fans understood that there was more to Depp, Phoenix and Reeves than handsomeness. They were artistic—they had bands!—and they thought really big thoughts, which they would ramble on about confusingly in interviews. If we dated them, we understood that our role would be to understand their souls."

Personal life

Depp had initially bought a £13 million estate in Somerset, in 2014. He has been currently living in London as of now.

Relationships

Depp and makeup artist Lori Anne Allison were married from 1983 until 1985. In the late 1980s, he was engaged to actresses Jennifer Grey and Sherilyn Fenn. In 1990, he proposed to his Edward Scissorhands co-star Winona Ryder, who he began dating the year prior when she was 17 and he was 26. They ended their relationship in 1993; Depp later had the "Winona Forever" tattoo on his right arm changed to "Wino Forever". Between 1994 and 1998, he was in a relationship with English model Kate Moss. Following his breakup from Moss, Depp began a relationship with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, whom he met while filming The Ninth Gate in France in 1998. They have two children, daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999) and a son, Jack (born 2002). Depp stated that having children has given him a "real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything ...You cannot plan the kind of deep love that results in children. Fatherhood was not a conscious decision. It was part of the wonderful ride I was on. It was destiny. All the math finally worked". In June 2012, Depp and Paradis announced their separation.

Political views

In November 2016, Depp joined the campaign Imprisoned for Art to call for the release of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who was being held in custody in Russia.

At the Glastonbury Festival 2017, Depp, criticizing President Donald Trump, asked: "When was the last time an actor assassinated a president? I want to clarify: I'm not an actor. I lie for a living. However, it's been a while and maybe it's time. I'm not insinuating anything." The comment was interpreted as a reference to John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Shawn Holtzclaw of the Secret Service told CNN they were aware of Depp's comment, but that "for security reasons, we cannot discuss specifically nor in general terms the means and methods of how we perform our protective responsibilities". Depp apologized shortly afterward, saying the remark "did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice".

Filmography and accolades

Discography