About Johnny Depp

BIO, MOVIES, and CAREER

Is it acting? Or, at a certain point, do we have to call it something else? Depping? Whatever it is, it’s got some serious staying power: Johnny Depp has been part of American screendom—nay, American culture—for years and years, and his story is nothing if not unique.

The youngest of four, Johnny Depp grew up in Kentucky and Florida, where—as is the case for many junior high school-aged kids—he became enamored with music, learning the guitar and playing in rock bands at age 12. It was this early passion for music performance that would lead him to Los Angeles, where he and his band The Kids would try to land a record deal, and where he’d—perhaps by luck—become friends with actor Nicolas Cage.

Cage encouraged his new buddy to try acting, and so Depp gave it a shot: In 1984, the young and inexperienced “musician” got his first on-screen role, in Wes Craven’s would-be horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. Depp famously falls victim to notorious slasher Freddy Krueger, and the rest is history. Depp earned roles in Private Resort (1985) and Platoon (1986), the latter of which would win the Academy Award for Best Picture and achieve major box office success. Despite these early film successes, Depp would truly enter the limelight by way of TV.

In 1987, Depp went from semi-familiar face to full-on teen idol, in 21 Jump Street. In it, Depp plays an undercover copy whose youthful appearance allows him to pass as a teenager. The show was a ratings success story, and Depp became very popular with the kids. But this sort of pop-fame inspired the wannabe rockstar to lash out: Before long, Depp’s off-screen behavior would earn him status as one of the “bad boys of Hollywood,” a group that included other rising stars like River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. To match his off-screen rebelliousness, Depp would deliberately accept only distinctly interesting film roles—and this would lead to quite a fruitful chapter of his acting career.

Edward Scissorhands (1990), Depp’s first true film acting statement, would become legendary. And it would kick off a long relationship with stylistic standout director Tim Burton. Depp would also work with other famously experimental directors—John Waters, on Cry-Baby (1990), Jim Jarmusch, on Dead Man (1995), and Terry Gilliam, on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), to name a few. He’d soon add to his diverse acting resume a handful of other notable roles—in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999), Chocolat (2000), and Blow (2001).

After that? The big ones: Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, his first of five appearances as the irreverent Captain Jack Sparrow. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), as Willy Wonka. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), as the eponymous, murderous barber. Public Enemies (2009), as the notorious 1930s gangster John Dillinger. Boom: Top of the acting food chain. In 2012, he’d be the world’s highest-paid actor.

Johnny Depp’s been nominated for three Oscars and 10 Golden Globes. His name is synonymous with some of pop culture’s most beloved fictional characters. He’s been a heartthrob. He’s been a stinky pirate. And sometimes he even still plays guitar.

In the game for more than three decades, Depp isn’t even 60 yet. His newest film, historical drama Jeanne du Barry, opens in 2023.

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