Johnny Depp

In this week’s Friday Film, I’m featuring the great video from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Into The Great Wide Open. The video features Johnny in the role of Eddie Rebel. It’s about a young man who goes to Hollywood and becomes a rock star, but falls victim to all of Hollywood’s excesses, and is unable to handle the pressure. I loved this song, and the video!

Along with Johnny and Tom Petty, the video also features Gabrielle Anwar as Eddie’s girlfriend, and Faye Dunaway as Eddie’s agent. I’ve always been a huge fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

It’s a great opportunity to see Johnny onstage playing guitar! If you haven’t seen this video before or, at least, not for a long time-feast your eyes and ears!

For more info on music, go to Music Bender.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Tom Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Into the Great Wide Open, Faye Dunaway, Gabrielle Anwar

Here’s the second trailer for Sweeney Todd! The more I see about this movie, the more excited I am to see it!

There’s none of Johnny’s singing in this trailer. The blogosphere is really buzzing about Johnny’s singing (or lack thereof) in these trailers. Does it mean he can’t sing? Is his voice awful? Can’t he carry a tune? There’s been a lot of pointing out that his singing was dubbed in John Waters’ film, Crybaby. And also a lot of pointing out that Waters had his reasons for not letting Johnny sing that had nothing to do with his voice.

Tom O’Neil over at theL.A. Times is comparing Depp and Sweeney to Rex Harrison in the 1964 George Cukor film My Fair Lady. He quotes Julie Andrews, Harrison’s stage co-star with saying He couldn’t sing, but he had an innate musicality which enabled him to kind of do a sing-speak sound, which was great and exactly right because it blended straight out of dialogue into song.”

He then goes on to say that, even if Johnny can’t sing, he may be able to pull of the same “sing-speak” thing that Rex Harrison did. But then, O’Neil is not known to be a fan of Johnny Depp. Personally, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.

Not only because this is Johnny Depp we’re talking about, but because composer Stephen Sondheim had final say over the stars. Both Johnny and Helena Bonham Carter had to audition for him. Also, Sondheim has seen the film and he says it’s great. And Sondheim is not known for being diplomatic if he has issues!

In a recent interview, Sondheim said of the movie, “It’s not the Broadway show. It’s only an hour and 45 minutes. A lot of the score has been cut. They’ve made it its own thing. You have to go in knowing that. But what they’ve done is great.” If the composer thinks it’s great, what else can you say?

Personally, I’m going on the belief that Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together can do no wrong!

For more on upcoming movies, see Cinema Hype.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, Stephen Sondheim, Helena Bonham Carter, Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady, Julie Andrews, John Waters, Crybaby

Finally!!! Here’s our first look at Johnny as Sweeney Todd (other than still photos and movie posters)! It’s the 2:29 trailer of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and it was worth the wait!

The first seconds of the trailer show us Benjaming Barker (the man who became Sweeney Todd), happy with his wife and daughter, then immediately cut to a courtroom scene, where Judge Turpin (played by the always wonderful Alan Rickman) is solemnly and evilly pronouncing, “May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”

From there we are treated to scenes of Benjamin Barker’s transformation to Sweeney Todd, with scenes featuring Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. Along with our first few seconds of Johnny singing! It’s not enough to gauge his entire performance, but he sounds as though, vocally, he’s handling it well. Of course, I would expect no less of him. Johnny’s the type of actor who would not take on a role if he didn’t think he was up to the challenge.

There’s some interesting background to Johnny and Helena’s roles. Seems composer Stephen Sondheim retained veto power over casting the lead roles. Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter had to personally audition for Sondheim, and he almost rejected Johnny, considering his vocals “too rock oriented.” Now, that would have been a shame!

As far as acting, well-do we really even need to bring that up? Johnny’s always stellar in that arena. He embodies a character to perfection, and makes it look so easy. I can always actually forget that I’m watching Johnny Depp! Once again, I can’t wait for this movie!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sweeney Todd trailer

I’m starting a new feature today called “Friday Film.” On Fridays, from now on, I’ll be featuring video clips of Johnny-interviews, film clips, even some made of clips set to music. There’s so much good film of Johnny out there, and I thought it would be great to share some with you.

I’m starting off with Part I of an interview with David Letterman, which aired on “Late Night” July 27, 2006. In this first part, Johnny talks with Dave about how studio executives first felt about his portrayl of Captain Jack Sparrow. There’s also a very funny story about his defacing a billboard of himself from his “21 Jump Street” days. And, as usual, his clothes are unusual and uniquely Johnny! Hope you enjoy!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean, David Letterman, Late Night, 21 Jump Street, Johnny Depp interview

Great news! The episode of Inside The Actor’s Studio starring Johnny Depp is set to be released on November 20th! Originally, the episode was scheduled to be released in May of this year. Then, release was moved to September, and then it was taken off the schedule completely. Hopefully, all merry-go-round of scheduling is all resolved, and we’ll be watching Johnny on November 20th. There are some great moments with Johnny in this episode, so be sure to get it!

Also, according to the website TV Shows On DVD, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is scheduled for an early December release. I haven’t heard an exact date on it yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do.

Add the release of Sweeney Todd to all this, and it looks like it’ll be a great holiday season for Johnny Depp fans!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Inside The Actor’s Studio, Pirate of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd

I found this video of Johnny and former girlfriend Kate Moss at YouTube. The interview was done back in 1995 on the British show “The Breakfast Club.” In it, Johnny and Kate talk about the “War Child” charity, and the interviewer asks Johnny about his tattoos. There’s also a funny bit where Johnny compares the paparazzi to “mosquitoes and gnats!”

Take a look and marvel at how Johnny looks as though he hasn’t aged a bit since then! Enjoy!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Kate Moss, The Breakfast Club, War Child, Johnny Depp interviews