Johnny Depp is one of the most popular actors in the world. This popularity is well-deserved and achieved not through scandals and skillful PR campaigns by film companies promoting their films. This personality is a real find for movie lovers. The thespian got into the movie business by accident. His lifelong dream was to become a famous musician.
By the will of fate, the man was cast in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Over the next thirty years, he regularly appeared on screen in various roles. Sweeney Todd, Willy Wonka, the Mad Hatter, the Lone Ranger, Grindelwald and, of course, Captain Jack Sparrow. Hardly anyone in the world doesn’t know these characters. The man confidently followed his own path and eventually became one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. Learn about Leonardo DiCaprio‘s success story. Read more on los-angeles-trend.
Biography
The actor was born John Christopher Depp in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963, to parents John and Betty Sue Depp. The thespian’s father worked as a civil engineer. His mother worked as a waitress and was a housewife. Johnny was the youngest of four children. The boy’s childhood was not happy.
Mother would disappear to work at a roadside cafe, swear, smoke and like to play cards. Father would often get drunk and become violent. Everyone suffered, including his wife and children. Kids called him a weirdo as he had many interesting habits. For example, he always turned the light in the room on and off twice.
Johnny and his family relocated many times due to his father’s job. They finally settled in Miramar, Florida, when Johnny was 7 years old. The family lived in a motel for almost a year until his father found a job. The boy despised his new home and started smoking at the age of 12. In 1978, when the future celebrity was 15, his parents divorced. Johnny started going to his father’s office and picking up his weekly child support money. This brought about a rupture between father and son.
At 16, the boy dropped out of high school and joined a garage band called The Kids. The band became quite successful. But they could barely make ends meet. Depp lived in his friend’s car for months. To survive, he got jobs. He worked at a construction site, then as a courier and even started selling fountain pens. He devoted all his free time to music.
The beginning of his acting career
In 1983, at the age of 20, Johnny met and married 25-year-old make-up artist L. Allison. That same year, the couple moved to LA with his band, hoping to impress the locals and conquer Hollywood. Still living on a tight budget, the future actor and his bandmates supported themselves financially by selling pens.
A year later, the man became interested in acting when his wife introduced him to her ex-boyfriend, actor N. Cage. Cage saw the potential in Depp and introduced the musician to a Hollywood agent. After a few small roles, the man landed his first role in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). In 1985, Johnny’s marriage ended.
Then, Depp began acting in youth series, which became popular thanks to his participation. In 1987, the series 21 Jump Street was released and ran for four years. In 1990, the actor appeared in two top-rated works at once, the musical project Cry-Baby and the fantasy film Edward Scissorhands, directed by T. Burton.
This film marked the beginning of the era of fruitful cooperation between the young artist and the famous director. In this movie, he played the main character and won his first Golden Globe. The film not only established the man as a top-tier actor but also grossed over $54 million at the box office.
Success
In 1997, the artist learned about true audience love after the release of the films The Brave and Donnie Brasco. The Brave marked Johnny’s debut as a director and screenwriter. He was nominated in three categories at once at the Cannes Film Festival, as director, screenwriter and actor. The thespian took home the Palme d’Or at the festival. In 1999, the actor received his share of fame again. It happened after the release of the gothic horror film Sleepy Hollow.
By the end of the 1990s, Johnny had appeared in two more films, The Astronaut’s Wife and The Ninth Gate. The actor also demonstrated his talent in the drama Chocolat. A year later, Johnny appeared in the crime biopic Blow, where he played a real person. His character is the American smuggler George Jung.
But the real incredible fame and the title of Hollywood star of the first magnitude were still ahead. It came in 2003, when the adventure movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released. Captain Jack Sparrow is Johnny’s starring role. The film was nominated for five Oscars at once.
After the incredible success of the film, it was decided to make a sequel to the story of the brave pirate. In 2006, the second part, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, was released, followed a year later by the third part, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. In 2011, viewers were able to see the continuation of Jack Sparrow’s story in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In early 2012, the man signed a contract to star in the fifth and sixth installments of the favorite film. In May 2017, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales premiered.
In 2004, the thespian appeared in a biographical drama about the life of writer James Barrie, the creator of the Peter Pan character. The star won his second Oscar for his role in this film. At the same time, the actor was starring in the movie The Libertine and strengthening his title as a sex symbol. He played Earl John Wilmot, a politician, poet and bisexual who was a favorite of Charles II.
At that time, the actor actively participated in the filming of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, The Lone Ranger, The Rum Diary, Black Mass, The Tourist, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Murder on the Orient Express.
The man’s filmography includes more than two hundred films. He has played completely different characters. It seems that there are no longer any characters that this talented artist has not portrayed on the screen.
Health problems
In 2013, the thespian admitted to serious vision problems. According to him, he was almost completely blind in his left eye. When doctors examined the actor’s other eye, they found that he was nearsighted. In this regard, the actor began to wear corrective glasses with slightly tinted lenses almost always. The man also spoke about the difficulties in his work due to his poor eyesight. When he plays a character who doesn’t wear glasses, he can only see properly at a distance of a few centimeters from his face.
Personal life
The celebrity’s longest relationship was with V. Paradis. They dated for 14 years, though they never got married. However, they have two children, daughter Lily-Rose Melody (1999) and son John Christopher (Jack) Depp III (2002). But in 2012, they divorced. The reason was Johnny’s relationship with his partner in The Rum Diary, Amber Heard.
The stormy romance of 50-year-old actor and young actress A. Heard led to a wedding. In early 2015, the lovers got married. But in May 2016, A. Heard filed for divorce. She accused the man of domestic violence, and he claimed that she beat him. Johnny went through a long and difficult divorce, but in 2018 he met dancer Polina Glen and was allegedly going to marry her. The couple broke up in November 2019. P. Glen could not cope with the lawsuits filed by Johnny and A. Heard.
