50 Fun Facts About Johnny Depp

In which state was Johnny Depp born in 1963?

The family moved constantly and settled in Miramar, Florida, in 1970; his mother later married a man named Robert Palmer, whom he calls an inspiration.

What was Depp's feature film debut, in 1984?

He had no acting experience; Nicolas Cage set up the audition and Wes Craven's daughter liked the look of him.

Which actor, then his drinking buddy, advised Depp to try acting and got him his first audition?

Depp's first wife introduced them; he had been interested in acting since reading a James Dean biography.

Depp became a teen idol playing an undercover cop on which Fox series, from 1987?

He took the job to work with actor Frederic Forrest, then complained the show 'forced him into the role of product'.

At what age did Depp drop out of Miramar High School to become a rock musician?

He tried to return two weeks later, and the principal told him to follow his dream instead.

What was the name of the band Johnny Depp joined in 1980, which later opened for the Ramones?

In LA they renamed themselves Six Gun Method and split before landing a record deal.

Depp's first wife, Lori Anne Allison, was the sister of whom?

They married on Christmas Eve 1983 in Miami-Dade County; she became a makeup artist after going deaf in one ear.

Which John Waters musical comedy was Depp's first film release of 1990?

It flopped at the time but became a cult classic; later that year he made Edward Scissorhands.

Which silent star's films did Depp study to play the near-wordless Edward in his first Tim Burton film?

The role earned his first Golden Globe nomination and got an extinct clawed arthropod named Kootenichela deppi.

An extinct arthropod with prominent claws was named after Depp thanks to which role?

Kootenichela deppi takes its species name from him; 'chela' is Latin for claws.

Which 1993 sleeper hit had Depp playing an eccentric, illiterate silent-film fan?

It was one of three films he released that year, alongside Arizona Dream and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Who played Bela Lugosi opposite Depp in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994)?

Depp said working with Landau 'rejuvenated' his love of acting; he committed within ten minutes of hearing about the project.

Which 1995 Jim Jarmusch Western starring Depp was shot entirely in black and white?

That same year he played opposite Marlon Brando in Don Juan DeMarco.

In Donnie Brasco (1997), Depp plays a real undercover FBI agent named what?

He spent time with the real Pistone to prepare and starred opposite Al Pacino.

What was Johnny Depp's 1997 directorial debut with Marlon Brando, panned at Cannes and never released in the US?

He played a poor Native American man who agrees to appear in a snuff film for money.

Depp played Raoul Duke, alter ego of which writer friend, in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

Terry Gilliam directed; it bombed and split the critics.

Which actress did Depp cite, with Roddy McDowall and Basil Rathbone, as inspiration for his Ichabod Crane?

He thought of Ichabod as 'a very delicate, fragile person ... like a frightened little girl'.

Which two figures did Depp say he modeled Captain Jack Sparrow on?

Studio executives were ambivalent about the performance at first; it earned him Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and a SAG win.

How many Academy Award nominations has Depp received?

All for Best Actor: Jack Sparrow, J. M. Barrie in Finding Neverland and Sweeney Todd. He has never won.

Which real author does Depp play in Finding Neverland (2004)?

The Peter Pan playwright brought him his second Oscar nomination.

For which film did Depp win his only Golden Globe, for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy?

It was the first film that required him to sing; he skipped a vocal coach and cut demos with old bandmate Bruce Witkin.

Depp named which Peter Lorre performance as his main influence for his singing barber role?

Lorre plays a 'creepy but sympathetic' surgeon in it.

The 2007 singing-barber musical was Depp's how-manyeth film with Tim Burton?

Dark Shadows in 2012 was their eighth; Alice in Wonderland in between made over $1 billion.

Which real gangster does Depp play in Michael Mann's Public Enemies (2009)?

Roger Ebert wrote that for once an actor playing a gangster 'starts cold. He plays Dillinger as a fact.'

Roughly how much did Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), with Depp as the Mad Hatter, gross worldwide?

It was the second-highest-grossing film of 2010 despite mixed reviews.

What kind of animal does Depp voice in the Oscar-winning animated film Rango (2011)?

It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

In 2012 Guinness World Records listed Depp as the world's highest-paid actor with earnings of how much?

That year he also cameoed with Peter DeLuise and Holly Robinson in a big-screen reboot of his old TV show.

Depp's casting as which character in The Lone Ranger (2013) drew accusations of whitewashing?

Disney took a $190 million loss on the film.

Which Boston crime boss does Depp play in Black Mass (2015)?

Critics called it one of his best performances and it brought his third SAG nomination.

Which luxury house signed Depp in 2015 as the face of its men's fragrance Sauvage?

The same year he was inducted as a Disney Legend.

Who replaced Depp as Grindelwald after he resigned from the Fantastic Beasts franchise in November 2020?

Warner Bros. asked him to step down after he lost his UK libel case against The Sun.

Which real photographer does Depp portray in Minamata (2020)?

The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival; its director later accused MGM of trying to bury it.

Depp played which French king in Jeanne du Barry, the opening film of Cannes 2023?

It was his first film acting in French and drew a seven-minute standing ovation.

Depp's 2024 film Modì, his first directing job in over 25 years, is about which artist?

It covers 72 hours in the painter's life and was co-produced with Al Pacino, who also stars.

Which two rock veterans formed the supergroup Hollywood Vampires with Depp in 2015?

Bruce Witkin from The Kids is in the band too; the debut album was mostly classic-rock covers.

With which guitarist did Depp record the 2022 album '18'?

He joined Beck onstage in Sheffield while the jury in his defamation trial was still out.

Which Los Angeles nightclub did Depp co-own from 1993 to 2003?

He was also briefly part owner of the Paris restaurant-bar Man Ray.

After splitting with Winona Ryder, Depp altered his arm tattoo of her name to read what?

They met on Edward Scissorhands and he proposed in 1990; he was later engaged to Jennifer Grey and Sherilyn Fenn too.

On the set of which 1998 film did Depp meet Vanessa Paradis, mother of his two children?

Lily-Rose was born in 1999 and a son in 2002; the couple announced their separation in June 2012.

Depp and Amber Heard met while making which 2011 film?

They married in a civil ceremony in February 2015; Heard filed for divorce in May 2016.

Which newspaper did Depp unsuccessfully sue for libel in the UK over a 2018 'wife beater' article?

The High Court found 12 of 14 alleged incidents proven and the description 'substantially true' in November 2020.

The 2022 Depp v. Heard defamation trial took place in which Virginia county?

The suit was over a Washington Post op-ed; the trial ran from April 11 to June 1, 2022.

How much did the Virginia jury award Depp in compensatory damages in June 2022?

A further $5 million punitive award was cut to $350,000 by state law; Heard won $2 million on her countersuit.

Depp was named People's Sexiest Man Alive twice, in 2003 and which other year?

The first came the year Curse of the Black Pearl made him a box-office star at 40.

Depp received an Honorary César and a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in which year?

France later gave him another honor of sorts: the opening slot at Cannes 2023.

What is the name of the production company Depp founded in 2004, run with his sister Christi Dembrowski?

Its first releases were The Rum Diary and Hugo; a European sister firm, IN.2, launched in 2021.

Depp was arrested in New York in 1994 after trashing a room at which hotel while staying with Kate Moss?

Charges were dropped once he paid $9,767 in damages.

Which Australian law did Depp and Heard breach in 2015 by not declaring their two dogs?

Heard pleaded guilty to falsifying a quarantine document and the couple recorded a stilted apology video.

Which Depp film series has earned about $4.5bn across five films?

A fan petition to bring him back as Sparrow passed 500,000 signatures in 2021.

Which Depp role had him voicing a stop-motion groom in a 2005 Tim Burton film?

It came out the same year as his Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.