Johnny Depp

John Christopher “Johnny” Depp, born on June 9th 1963 is an American actor most known for playing distinguished and eccentric characters throughout his profound career. I think his most well known character roles are the eccentric drunk pirate ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’ from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, the timid unusual character ‘Edward Scissorhands’ from the self entitled film and my personal favourite his portrayal of one of his closest friends Hunter.S.Thompson or ‘Raoul Duke’ from the 1998 Terry Gilliam film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.

His first real break into movies was in 1984 when he played a victim of the infamous ‘Freddie Krueger’ from the film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. He then went on to broaden his horizons by working with Tim Burton on hit 1990 film ‘Edward Scissorhands’. The success of this film is what started Depp’s future collaborations with the director Tim Burton. This turned into another 6 films in which they have done since. The films being ‘Ed Wood’ (1994), ‘Sleepy Hollow’(1999), ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’(2005), ‘Corpse Bride’(2005), ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’(2007) and his latest collaboration on Burtons remake ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where Depp plays the role of the ‘Mad Hatter’. His collaborations with Burton have won him awards and made him a household name that everyone recognises.

My favourite film of his is ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ was directed by Monty Python co-creator Terry Gilliam. The film is a representation of Hunter.S.Thompson’s book ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. Being Thompson’s friend I think Depp portrayed his character perfect with the mannerisms being almost identical to the real Hunter.S.Thompson. The film is basically a drug fuelled trek around Las Vegas with a reporter (Depp) and his Attorney trying to find a story for his the magazine company he works for but drugs and senselessness get in the way. I think the parts where Depp was seemingly on drugs made the film extremely funny and gave a real sense of what type of person Hunter.S.Thompson was, I think he would be proud of Depp’s portrayal of him.

Johnny Depp is hands down one of the greatest actors in films at the moment. He has the great ability to commit to his characters 100% and make every film a performance. Although he has starred in films I personally didn’t like, he always shone through that and made his performance one of his own and stand out on his own which is why I believe he is one of the best and deserves that status. I personally look forward to his September 2010 release of another Hunter.S.Thompson book turned film ‘The Rum Diary’.