“One of the finest actors around”: the co-star Johnny Depp called an all-time hero
Acting is one of those rare professions where so many people who grew up idolising certain performers eventually get the chance to work directly with their heroes if they’re lucky enough, and Johnny Depp is no different in that respect.
Like many before him and plenty afterwards, Depp was mesmerised by the inimitable Marlon Brando, who waltzed onto the scene with his new-fangled naturalistic techniques in the 1950s and walked away with a truly transformative presence. Not only were they co-workers, but they were also close friends.
Given their individual eccentricities, it was a typically unusual creative partnership. Depp and Brando first came together on Don Juan De Marco before their reunion on Divine Rapture ran out of money and went unfinished. Their third and final feature, The Brave, was locked away in the vault forever after first-time director Depp decided it wasn’t worthy of being released to the public.
Not all of Depp’s on-screen heroes are wayward geniuses and mad mavericks, though, with one of them being among the most dependable names in the business. In fact, the Pirates of the Caribbean headliner was so excited and enthralled by the prospect of finally getting the chance to spar with Bill Nighy that he could easily overlook the fact he was wearing a leotard covered in dots the entire time.
The respected veteran boarded Disney’s swashbuckling franchise to play the villainous Davy Jones in the sequels Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, where he managed to give a stellar performance despite the limitations of parading around in a onesie. Depp didn’t mind, referring to his fictional nemesis as “one of my all-time heroes and one of the finest actors around.”
He did acknowledge the inherent silliness of the first-time pairing, which is understandable. “It was fetching,” he told the BBC of Nighy’s motion capture-adorned jumpsuit. “But it was strange, with little ping pong balls all over it. It was kind of fascinating to look at, and it’s probably what kept me from giggling all the time.”
Academy Award and Tony nominee, two-time Bafta winner, and Golden Globe victor Nighy has built up an acclaimed body of work on film, television, and theatre dating back to the 1960s, but Depp probably couldn’t have imagined that when he finally got the opportunity to work with somebody he called an all-time hero, it would come on a blockbuster where he was digitally transformed into a tentacled, sea-dwelling monster.
That’s Hollywood, though, and it wasn’t Nighy’s first or last rodeo in that arena after he went on to pop up in the effects-heavy Harry Potter series, Wrath of the Titans, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Detective Pikachu. None of them will be remembered as his finest work, but those bills need to be paid.
