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Tuesday, 12 June 2007 |
By D. W. O'Dell
I have long been known amongst my friends for my annual fearless predictions of who will receive Oscar nominations. It’s easy to guess the winner when the field has been narrowed to five; it’s tougher to pick who will be in the top five when every actor in Hollywood - and some from other countries - is in the running. In 2003 I shocked one friend of mine by predicting an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp for the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. “You’re nuts,” she said, “Movies like that don’t get Oscar nominations for acting!” But I had the last laugh when the nomination came about as predicted. 
My friend was right, summer fodder like Pirates almost never garner acting awards. But Depp had two things in his favor: he was probably the most respected actor in Hollywood who had never been nominated for an Oscar; plus, Pirates had a domestic gross of $300 million, and it wasn’t because of the direction, the screenplay, Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightly. At least $200 million of that gross was solely due to Johnny Depp’s performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Oscar respects nothing more than dollars.
Depp began his career like many aspiring actors, appearing in films like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Private Resort (1985) (in the 1980’s, half the films aimed at randy teenaged boys had the word “private” in the title; the only exception I can think of is Private Benjamin). He first gained acclaim as part of the ensemble cast of 21 Jump Street, the then-new FOX network’s teen cop show. After three years of paying dues as a TV actor, he was ready to make the leap to films full-time.
Depp’s second post-21 Jump Street film (after John Waters' Cry-Baby (1990), which this writer has yet to see) contains possibly his best performance, Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990). Like Boris Karloff’s monster in the original Frankenstein, Depp’s character is nearly mute; and, obviously having no hands in the usual sense, this forced Depp to use facial expressions to convey all the inner workings of his character’s mind. Thanks to Depp, what at first glance appeared to be an insane premise for a film became believable and touching.
Depp quickly embarked on an astonishing series of film successes, more for him than the films he was in. He displayed amazing physical prowess by perfectly mimicking Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton’s silent film routines in Benny and Joon (1993). He helped a young actor named Leonardo di Caprio to an Oscar nomination in the little seen What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993); he helped veteran actor Martin Landau win an Oscar for the also little seen Ed Wood (1994). Depp perfectly captured Ed Wood’s sunny determination in that film, turning a man who was universally mocked into someone sympathetic and endearing. Depp also stood out acting opposite Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway in the excellent but yet again little seen Don Juan DeMarco (1995) (notice how many of his films can be described as “little seen”?).
Depp then took a major mis-step by starring in the unoriginal and pedestrian political thriller Nick of Time (1995). He quickly corrected his career trajectory by starring in possibly his biggest pre-Pirates movie, Donnie Brasco (1997). Both Depp and co-star Al Pacino received various award nominations, and the script was nominated for an Oscar. He followed Donnie  Brasco with the trippy (and dare I say little seen?) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).
Depp re-teamed with Tim Burton for Sleepy Hollow, which I consider much less successful than Edward Scissorhands. Burton’s flight of fancy was much darker this time, and the emphasis seemed to be on increasing the gore factor of the original story while not increasing the charm or whimsy. Also, Depp had little chemistry with co-star Christina Ricci, another talented actor frequently drawn to weird material.
Depp continued to garner praise for his next few films, including Before Night Falls (2000, opposite Best Actor nominee Javier Bardem, and in which he played two different characters), the Oscar nominated Chocolat (2000) which was probably his most traditionally romantic role, and Blow (2001). He even tried out an English accent, to mixed reviews, in From Hell (2001). Then came the role he will be remembered for, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
The portrayal of Sparrow gives Depp the opportunity to flex his muscles at being outré, while investing his character with enough darkness to make him appealing but not a downer. Depp’s explanation that he based his performance on Keith Richards has led the Rolling Stoner to be cast as Sparrow’s father in the third Pirates film, released this summer.
He followed his Oscar-nominated turn in the first Pirates with another one the following year, this time successfully employing an English accent in Finding Neverland (2004). In the interim he has continued his association with Tim Burton, making them one of cinema’s most effective actor/director combinations along with Toshiro Mifune/Akira Kurosawa, Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone, and Cary Grant/Alfred Hitchcock. He starred in Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), an ill-conceived re-make of the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and then provided the lead voice in the stop-motion film Corpse Bride (2005). Since 2005 he has of course starred in the two Pirates sequels, Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and At World’s End (2007).
Depp has never been drawn to traditional leading man roles. Since his debut in the original Elm Street, he has continued to appear in horror films like Jim Jarmusch's creepy cult film Dead Man (1995), The Ninth Gate (1999), From Hell and The Secret Window (2004). He has starred in small films (Ed Wood) and had small parts in big films (Chocolat); he has worked - even excelled - with gonzo filmmakers John Waters (Cry-Baby), Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man), Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing), Tim Burton, and the Hughes Brothers (From Hell). He has always been a generous actor, as the above partial list of award-nominated co-stars and directors attests.
Supposedly his take from the three Pirates of the Caribbean films will give Depp the financial freedom to pursue work in small, off-beat films for the rest of his career, not that he’s ever shied away from them before. At one point I said I’d watch any film starring Johnny Depp; Nick of Time cured me of that. But now that he can do whatever he wants, I may go back to that philosophy again. If Johnny Depp wants to be in a film, it’s almost sure to be interesting.
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