The
Johnny Depp Zone
Interview
Archive
2 0 0 4
Hollywood Interview:
Johnny Depp
by
Martyn Palmer
edited by Rob Chilton
OK! Magazine
December 7, 2004
Hollywood’s
Outsider Comes In For A Chat.
The
Maverick Finding Neverland
Star Says He’s Just A
Big Kid And Confesses To A Crush On
Kate Winslet!
Imagination,
a
love of storytelling and a fascination
with misfits are passions Johnny Depp and
JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan
have in common. 
It was
no surprise therefore, when Depp agreed to play
the
novelist in Finding Neverland. The
film looks at the Scottish author’s relationship with the
Llewelyn Davies family—a
recently widowed mother, Sylvia, played by Kate Winslet, and her four
young
sons.
The
alienation makes 
Edward Scissorhands, Ed
Wood and even Depp’s
portrayal of
writer Hunter
S. Thompson in Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas. Depp is
full of praise for the four
young actors who
play the Llewelyn Davies boys—in particular Freddie Highmore
as Peter. Depp was
so impressed with the 12-year-old Freddie that he recommended him to
Tim Burton
for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
which he is now filming. Johnny, star of Pirates
of the Caribbean, lives with his partner Vanessa Paradis,
with whom he has
two children, Lily-Rose, five, and Jack, two. Here, he talks
exclusively about
being an outsider and his love and admiration for co-star Kate Winslet
. . .
Did
you know much about JM Barrie before you started filming?
No,
when the screenplay first came to me, I
didn’t know anything about him apart from the speculation
over his relationship
with the boys. I remember hearing these stories about
Working
with children can be a mixed blessing, but these kids were
fantastic .
. .
Yeah,
the kids were amazing. In terms of
the story, Freddie’s character Peter had a bit more to do
than the other boys
but I thought the other boys held their own beautifully. And Freddie,
who had
the heavier load, was just amazing. He is a very gifted little guy.
And
you’re working with him again . . .
Yeah,
we’re doing Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory. You just look at him and you
fall in love. Freddie is a special young man. He has a good head on his
shoulders and is so great about all the hullabaloo. He is not even
really sure
he wants to be an actor. He loves going to school and playing with his
mates.
You
seem to like those characters that are slightly apart from society, a
little
childlike . . .
Yes,
I think so. It’s a theme that I have
returned to now and again. It’s a fascinating
theme—what society deems as
normal and abnormal.
What
was your own childhood like?
For
the most part it was great, you know,
pretty normal. I mean there were times when it was very difficult and
there
were rough times we had to go through as children, but compared to what
a lot
of kids have to go through in this world my childhood was a blessing.
When
you were growing up did you feel like an outsider?
Oh
yeah, absolutely. I felt completely and
utterly confused by everything that was going on around me. It was the
one
thing that the teachers didn’t want you to do in
school—question things. But I
always wanted to know why. It really pissed them off.
Presumably
the great thing about acting is that it continues to let you explore?
Yes,
definitely. One of the best parts of
this job is that it allows me to continue my education. In my research
I dive
into things that you become fascinated with. Like pirates for
instance—you
start reading about pirates and the myths that surround them. For
example, no
one ever walked a plank—it never happened!
What
kind of research did you carry out on JM Barrie?
I
wanted to go and visit where he was born
in
Do
you
think Barrie was just a big kid?
Oh
yeah. And not very big actually. [laughs]
He was actually quite small in
stature. He had less than a handful of adult friends that he could deal
with on
a personal level. But when he hung out with the kids, with the boys for
example, he became alive. He blossomed because they were pure, they
were
innocent, there was no bull. They weren’t after money or
social status, they
just wanted to have fun and he adored that.
Did
he really remain their guardian, as the film states?
Yes,
until his death. He was Sir James
Barrie but to them he was their pal Jimmy—their pal who used
to run through the
mud with them playing pirates and Indians. It’s beautiful.
And he left the
rights to Peter Pan to the Great
Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Presumably
this is a film that your children will enjoy . . .
Yeah,
my boy is two and my daughter is
five. Certainly my daughter will love it and my son a little later
hopefully.
Was
Kate Winslet a kindred spirit on this film?
Oh
yeah, she’s amazing. We hadn’t worked
together before. She is so cool. There’s no pretence, no
weirdness, no diva. She is a great girl first, a great
mum—which is impressive
and made me love her
even more—and obviously she is a great actress. Years
ago I
saw Heavenly Creatures and I
thought she was
terrific in it—but I didn’t see the boat movie! It’s
so great not to lie about
someone. [laughs] Do you know what I
mean? You do these things sometimes and it’s like:
‘Oh she was terrific! Next
question!’ I’m happy to say that in this case I can
gush on and on about Kate.
Do
you find the message of the boy who never grows up inspirational or
tragic?
I
find it inspirational. Children are
children for a very short period of time and all too soon the weight of
the
world starts throwing layers of muck on your shoulders. We lose some of
the
qualities we have as children, a kind of curiosity about things. We
become
jaded very early, especially in this day and age. I find it
inspirational, the
idea that it is important to try and save those things and maintain
them and
use it in life.
FINDING
NEVERLAND IS OUT NOW.
Ashley
Pearson ~
Nothing gets past our First Lady Of Gossip