How Hunter S Thompson inspired Johnny Depp’s first movie as a director in three decades
When it comes to current opinions on Johnny Depp, you’re likely to get very different reactions going from one person to the next. Thanks to his hugely public court case with ex-partner Amber Heard, there tends to be one camp or another—those who still love him and those who think he’s a dangerous cad of the highest order.
Like many men in the public eye who found themselves caught up in a battle for their reputations over the last decade, Depp is currently on the front foot and attempting to gauge public reaction in terms of a comeback. He has been little-seen (outside of a courtroom) since his turn as ‘Grindelwald’ in the second film in the Fantastic Beasts series, and that was back in 2018. He was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen after starting to film the third instalment when Heard’s allegations emerged, leading to just three movie roles in seven years for an actor who was once one of the most recognisable and in-demand in the industry.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Depp was the smouldering icon who went from fronting teen heartthrob in the likes of Nightmare on Elm Street and Cry-Baby to a long-time partnership with darkness-obsessed director Tim Burton. Together, the pair worked on an astonishing eight movies, producing classics such as Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Dark Shadows. But it was Depp’s turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise that cemented his status as a megastar.
Those films grossed over $4.5million at the box office and made Depp instantly recognisable to a whole new generation, albeit while he was essentially doing a Keith Richards impression.
Rather like Will Smith, Depp has had to face up to the glare of society’s rules and decide if the idea of behaving like a normal person and, by proxy, getting to be liked again by normal people, is for him. A round of new interviews has seen him (again like Smith) plucking suitably flowery quotations about redemption out of the air in order to justify any past indiscretions.
It is now some 27 years since Depp took the lead in the Hunter S Thompson black comedy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it seems the experience still dictates a lot of thoughts for the Kentucky native. The late Thomson became a friend of Depp’s, and he recently told The Telegraph that the gonzo journalist’s words still ring true for him. In fact, so much so that he was tempted out of semi-forced retirement in order to direct Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, a film about Amedeo Modigliani, the famed Italian painter and sculptor, starring Al Pacino and Stephen Graham.
“Hunter used that quote from Dr Johnson at the beginning of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: ‘He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man’. That’s the definition of Hunter and it’s the definition of Modigliani,” said Depp.
Perhaps mindful of the current climate, Depp then hastily clarified, saying. “It’s not that men are more in pain, but just in general. You can apply it to a woman too, of course”.
It remains to be seen if Modi is a hit; it may well be that it is a very niche subject with a limited audience. It also represents the only time Depp has directed a film in over 20 years, so he could be out of practice, to say the least. But you get a sense that either way, Depp won’t let the feedback hinder his progress.
He continued, boldly claiming, “Listen, they’ve said all kinds of things out there in the world about me, and it doesn’t bother me. I’m not running for office—if you think you can hurt me more than I’ve already been hurt, you’re gravely mistaken.”
