Johnny Depp: The Playboy Interviews (50 Years of the Playboy Interview) (7 page)

Depp:
We were at a restaurant, and Vanessa was extremely pregnant. All they wanted were photographs of me and Vanessa and the belly. At that point I thought, Man, I’m not one of those whiny actors who says, “Oh, the paparazzi, they won’t leave me alone.” I could give a fuck about it. However, on this particular night I just decided, “Look, this is my girl. This is our first baby. I’m not going to let you fucking people turn this into a circus. You ain’t turning this deeply, profoundly beautiful, spiritual, life-changing experience into a novelty. Not without a fight.” I went out and talked to them. I said, “Look, guys, I know what you’re after. I understand you have a job to do. But you’re not going to turn this into a circus. Just give us a break. You’re not going to get what you want tonight. I’ll see you another time.”

Playboy:
To which they of course said, “We’re sorry. We’ll leave.”

Depp:
Right. They were very aggressive: “Fuck you, Johnny.” That kind of shit. I swung around and told Vanessa, “Go out the front door, get in the car so they don’t get us together or get your belly.” She did. She was in the car, so everything was going to be cool, but they were so shitty. One guy was trying to hold the door open. He had his hand wedged in there. I looked down at the ground, and there was a 17-inch wooden plank, a two-by-two or something. Instinct took over. I picked it up and whacked the guy’s hand. I went outside and said, “Now I want you to take my picture, because the first fucking guy who hits a flash, I’m going to kick his skull in. Let’s go. Take my picture.” They didn’t take my picture. I was livid. They walked backward down the street. I walked them away from Vanessa in the car and down this other street. It was beautiful. It was well worth it. It was kind of poetic. The next thing I knew, I saw flashing lights on the buildings around me. And a paddy wagon.

Playboy:
How long were you in jail?

Depp:
It was brief. It was around 11:30 or midnight, and I was out by five or six the next morning. No one filed charges against me, because they didn’t want their names exposed. Had they filed charges they would have had to give their names and would have lost their anonymity. The cops were actually terrific, real sweet. As I said, I didn’t mind as much before I had kids. Everything changes when it comes to my children.

Playboy:
Like what?

Depp:
Everything. The way you sleep changes. Your whole life is changed. Every inch of it is different.

Playboy:
How are you different?

Depp:
I think it just wakes you up and kind of gives you the opportunity to be who you really are. Before my kids came along I was freaked out to hold a kid. When I was a teenager and my brother had babies, I was always freaked out to hold them. They just seemed so fragile. I’d hold them for a minute and then, “Okay, here. Take the kid.” So I was surprised how quickly, almost instantly, I was okay with my own baby. Within 24 hours I was fine with it all—the diapers, everything. One of the most amazing moments in my life was holding my brand-new baby, Lily-Rose, just after she was born. She wasn’t three hours old, and I was holding her. Her little eyes were kind of half open. She was drifting into sleep. Looking into those little eyes, I thought, My God, I’ll never be closer to another human being in my life. And you’re not, until your second one comes. Before the second one came, there was this strange thing, a snippet of worry. I thought, How can I love the second as much as the first? Is it possible? And when little Jack arrived, it was instant. Instant. They just seem so fragile.

Playboy:
Who gave you parenting tips?

Depp:
One of the greatest pieces of advice I got was from my brother. When I told him Vanessa was pregnant, he said, “Congratulations. You’ll never sleep the same way again. You’ll never have another calm day as long as you live, but it’s worth it.” He said it just off-the-cuff, but it was right on the money.

Playboy:
Has parenthood influenced the movies you’ll take on?

Depp:
Yes. I actually feel as though I make choices with my kids in mind. It helps me to be clear about what I will and won’t make. I want to have my kids say, “My pa did only the things that he felt he should do.” I don’t want them to be embarrassed. I think maybe they can be proud of some of the work I do. Maybe they will be proud that I decided to go against the grain a little bit and fight the good fight. When you’re older, drooling, and your children are changing your diapers, they will know that there was integrity.

Playboy:
Vanessa is French. Are French women different from American women?

Depp:
They speak French better.

Playboy:
Beyond that?

Depp:
You know, Vanessa could have been anything—Icelandic, Armenian, Egyptian, whatever. It would have hit me with the same force. I wouldn’t say that it was the French thing.

Playboy:
How did you meet?

Depp:
We met briefly years ago. I remember thinking, Ouch. It was just hello, but the contact was electric. That was in 1993. It wasn’t until 1998, when I went to do the Polanski film
The Ninth Gate
and was in the lobby of the hotel, getting messages. I turned around and across the lobby saw this back. She had on a dress with an exposed back. I thought, Wow. Suddenly the back turned and she looked at me. I walked right over, and there were those eyes again. I knew it was her. She asked, “Do you remember me?” I said, “Oh yeah.” We had a drink, and it was over with at that point. I knew I was in big trouble.

Playboy:
What was different about this relationship?

Depp:
Everything. After we started dating I worked a long, long day and night, and I came home, back to my apartment in Paris, at three or four in the morning. Vanessa was there, and she was cooking for me. That’s not to say that a woman must cook for a man—that’s not what I’m saying—but it took me by surprise. It was a whole new ball game for me. I’d never experienced that before. It was like she was a woman not afraid to be a woman. I hope that doesn’t sound weird or sexist, because it’s not. I’m totally in agreement that women are the stronger, smarter, more evolved sex.

Playboy:
Have you considered marriage?

Depp:
Sure, but it would be a shame to ruin her last name. It’s so perfect—Vanessa Paradis. So beautiful. It would be such a drag to stick her with Paradis-Depp. It’s like a flat note. But for all intents and purposes, we are married. We have two kids together, and she’s the woman of my life. If she ever said, “Hey, let’s get hitched,” I would do it in a second. We’ll do it if the kids want us to, or maybe when the kids are old enough to enjoy it with us.

Playboy:
Your kids’ names are tattooed on your body. Is the “Jack” tattoo after your son or the pirate in
Pirates of the Caribbean
?

Depp:
Both, actually. I had a fake one for the movie, but I moved it and flipped it to make a real one for my son, Jack. My daughter’s here, on my heart.

Playboy:
How many tattoos do you have in all?

Depp:
Let’s see. [
counts
] There are 10, I think.

Playboy:
The “Winona Forever” tattoo is somewhat famous.

Depp:
Yeah, it’s here on my arm. It was the kind of thing you do on the spur of the moment—“Fuck it, let’s do it.” Then you break up, but it’s still there: a girl’s name on my arm.

Playboy:
Did it put a damper on new relationships following your split with Ryder?

Depp:
Yeah, it can turn a situation a little sticky. I changed it to “Wino Forever,” which is actually a bit more accurate.

Playboy:
How painful is it to have a tattoo removed?

Depp:
Painful. The guy said, “I should give you a local anesthetic,” but I said, “No, I’m fine.” He hit me with a laser and it seemed as though someone had stretched an electric rubber band all the way to Mars and snapped it on the end. Your skin burns and bubbles up.

Playboy:
Do you find it ironic that after your public relationships with people like Winona Ryder, it’s only now—when you’re married and have children—that
People
magazine pronounces you the sexiest man alive?

Depp:
I suppose.

Playboy:
Who gave you the news?

Depp:
My sister called me and said, “Hey, guess what.” It’s so odd. I was glad I was in Paris at the time, because I thought nobody would know. Then, at the bar at the Ritz Hotel, a guy goes, “Hey, man, congratulations.” A friend of mine ran into Gérard Depardieu. When I saw my friend, he said, “Oh, by the way, Gérard says to tell the sexiest man alive.…” I mean, if somebody actually believes it, I’m deeply flattered, but I don’t get it myself. It’s mortifying. You think, Where does that come from? Why did they choose me? Why now? I guess it’s just my time.

Colophon

Cover/Back Cover Design:
Billy Lymm

Cover Image:
David Rose

Director of Digital Content, Playboy:
Josh Schollmeyer

Special Thanks:
Murat Aktar, David Anthony, Cat Auer, Oskar Austegard, Patty Beaudet-Francès, Rebecca Blabolil, Jessica Campbell, Kevin Craig, Jared Evans, the late Murray Fisher, Tom Flores, Leopold Froehlich, Barry Golson, Christie Hartmann, Jimmy Jellinek, Amy Kastner-Drown, Bradley Lincoln, Fiona Maynard, Joy Olivia Miller, Brian Mitchell, Kevin Murphy, Nora O’Donnell, Winifred Ormond, Reena Patel, Liana Rios, Oscar Rodriguez, Rachel Sagan, Craig Schriber, Bianca Daad Simpson, Daniel Slater, Landis Smithers, Mallory Somerset, Marcia Terrones—and Stephen Randall, the princely keeper of the Playboy Interview for more than two decades.