The director Johnny Depp called an actor’s dream: “Particularly amazing”
Johnny Depp has had the privilege of working with some of the best directors, taking on some truly crazy disguises. His feature debut was in A Nightmare on Elm Street, which means he got to spend time with the mad genius that was Wes Craven. Collaborations with Oliver Stone, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, John Waters and more have followed over the years. However, when it comes to Depp and directors, there is one obvious connection to make.
It was something of a running joke that if Tim Burton made a movie, Johnny Depp would be in it. Alongside the Englishman’s ex-wife Helena Bonham Carter, Depp is easily Burton’s most frequent collaborator and important onscreen muse. The two first worked together on Edward Scissorhands, in which the maverick star played the troubled and deformed titular character. They would go on to make a total of eight pictures together, with 2012’s Dark Shadows being their most recent.
In an interview with Charlie Rose to promote Sleepy Hollow, Depp explained why he was happy to return to his favourite boss over and over again. “Tim is particularly amazing in that way… He’s a dream for an actor because he will…he will give you suggestions, and he’ll plant certain seeds. And then you take that, and you use that as a…as an ingredient,” he explained. “He allows you complete freedom to create a character from the ground up.”
He went on to recall the first time the two worked together and how the director rehearsed with everyone else on Edward Scissorhands except him. He wanted Depp to come up with his own ideas for the character and surprise him. The same thing happened on their next project, Ed Wood, in which Depp plays the titular cult director. Everyone else got one-on-one time with Burton except his leading man. “I spent the first two weeks of Ed Wood and Scissorhands and, in fact, Sleepy Hollow, thinking that I was gonna be fired, I was gonna be replaced,” the actor revealed his anxiety. “I just thought, ‘There’s no way I can get away with this. There’s just no way.’ But, luckily, Tim was happy with the stuff.”
There were a number of names in the running to take the role of Edward Scissorhands, including Tom Hanks, but, with the power of hindsight, it’s impossible to see anyone else in the part. Depp’s downbeat, highly physical performance is perfect for such an oddball, the sort of character he would come to perfect in future years. The same goes for Ed Wood. Depp plays Wood with a unique mixture of confidence and crippling self-doubt—the perfect combination for someone as beloved and derided as the man behind Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Sometimes, the best way to deal with an actor is to take a step back. Everyone knows that performers have planet-sized egos, which aren’t always receptive to intense man management. Burton clearly recognises this, which is why he’s gotten so many great performances out of Depp and many other talented thespians in his time.
At the time of writing, it’s been over a decade since these two worked together. Given Depp’s legal issues and his subsequent hiatus from Hollywood, it’s not hard to see why. However, Burton has said that he believes there will be another collaboration someday. We’ll just have to wait and see when that might be.
