Pirate, poet, parent: Depp star continues to rise

By Claudia Puig
USA Today

In "Secret Window," Johnny Depp plays a writer stalked by a psychotic stranger who claims the writer stole his story. Columbia Pictures

With his fine-boned good looks, longish dark hair and slightly boho demeanor, he could still pass for 25, but Johnny Depp is 40. And his days of drugs, drink and trashing hotel rooms are a thing of the past.

Now he sports three colorful bracelets made by his 5-year-old daughter, Lily-Rose. He seems settled, content and, well, grown up.

"I just kind of stumbled around for 35 years," Depp says. "And then when my daughter arrived, it was like 'Now I see.' Suddenly everything else is just kind of shavings, morsels, little tidbits. And this is what it's all about. This is real life. Boy, it couldn't have come at a better time."

His new movie, "Secret Window," opens today, capping a pretty great time indeed for Depp. He's happily settled down with Vanessa Paradis, a French pop singer, and their children, Lily-Rose and Jack, 23 months. He divides his time between homes in France and Los Angeles. He won a Screen Actors Guild award last month for his staggering, swaggering buccaneer in "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Though he lost the Oscar to Sean Penn, there was a sense that Depp had come awfully close, based on the fact that the onetime bad boy who's still taking chances is now one of Hollywood's most respected actors.

His performance as the irresistibly silly swashbuckler Capt. Jack Sparrow was the major reason for the success of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," which made $305 million.

"You put a genius in the middle of a pirate movie and it becomes effervescent," says Gary Ross, who directed another summer hit, "Seabiscuit." "It would have made $100 million without Johnny Depp."

Depp will revisit Captain Jack for the "Pirates" sequel, due in theaters in 2005.

He fused the cartoon Pepe Le Pew with the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards to fashion the slightly mincing, charismatic Captain Jack.

"What I hoped was to create a character that could be as fun and as interesting to a 5-year-old as it could be to the most jaded, hoity-toity intellectual," he says.

Richards had no idea he was being studied by his friend until just before the movie was released.

"He sent me a message to cover his (behind)...," Richards says. "I've known Johnny for a couple of years, and he'd always pay for dinner. Now I realize that was his way of paying me for modeling."

Depp's voice is soft and smoky. As he talks, he casually sweeps up his bangs and puts his hair in a ponytail in one smooth move. He asks permission to smoke.

"I cut down, I'll have you know," he says. "I cut down drastically. After all these years, I've finally figured it out. It's really pointless."

He has stumbled on a new way to relieve stress: Running.

"I started working with this guy I had trained with when I did 'Donnie Brasco.' He said every human being should be able to run for 30 minutes. In any emergency, you should be able to pick up your kid and run, as fast you can, for a good length of time. And it just made sense to me."

As his life has grown calmer and more conventional, he still finds an outlet for outlandish behavior in his work. This week he began filming "The Libertine," in which he plays a debauched, brilliant poet, John Wilmot, in a Restoration drama co-starring John Malkovich and fellow Oscar nominee Samantha Morton ("In America"). In June he takes on the seminal role of Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," teaming with Tim Burton for the fourth time. Later this year, he'll play "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie in "Neverland."

In "Secret Window," a psychological thriller based on a Stephen King story, Depp plays a blocked novelist.

"I'd never done a film like this. I read David Koepp's screenplay, and it really kept me on the edge of my seat," he says. "Also, it's nice to go from one extreme like Captain Jack, where the volume's kind of on 11, as it were, then go to something very subdued and internal."

Depp was shooting "Secret Window" when "Pirates" opened, and Koepp said Depp was "bemused" by the surge of attention.

"To have a performance acknowledged on this scale is something I'm not used to," Depp concedes. "Sometimes five people see my movies, sometimes 20. It feels a little strange because I really didn't do anything different than I've ever done."

Depp says the Oscar nomination was a great honor but beside the point.

"Though it would have been flattering and as equal an honor 10 years ago, I don't think I would have been able to appreciate it the way I can today, because of where I am in life," he says. "But I never will understand the idea of awards per se. I don't believe any actor or any artist is in competition with another."

He's a big reader and recently spent time skulking in British libraries doing research for his "Libertine" role.

"More than anything, I love being with my family," he says. "I'm like a total homebody, just hanging out with my kids."

Depp's comments to "GQ" about drugs and children provoked some outrage. He sets the record straight: "The journalist asked me, 'What about when your kids get to the age where they want to experiment with drugs?'

"And all I was talking about specifically was marijuana. Who wants their kids on drugs? Rather than have them go out on the street and get some nasty, potentially fatal stuff, I would rather say, 'Look, this is marijuana. I know where it came from. And if you really need to try it, try it here in the house and be safe.' They immediately misconstrued it, like I was prepared to go out and score all kinds of drugs for my kids. It was just ludicrous."

As ludicrous as denying Depp's heartthrob appeal. "Pirates" brought him a new legion of fans — mostly young and female — typified by 13-year-old Oscar nominee and "Whale Rider" star Keisha Castle-Hughes, who said Depp was the one person she wanted to meet at the Oscars.

For "Secret Window," Depp insisted on looking disheveled, as a writer deserted by both his wife and his inspiration.

With the robe, nerdy spectacles and a severe case of bed head, Depp pulls off a witty performance.

"You can rumple him, but you can't make him unattractive," Koepp says. "You can try, but it won't happen."

Edna Gundersen contributed to this story.