Jun 9, 2023
The most famous (on-screen) pirate of all time turns a year younger today. In a career spanning almost four decades, Johnny Depp has been synonymous with an infectious mercurial charm and quirky, offbeat roles, many of which have gone on to be iconic. From the bashful Edward Scissorhands to the beloved rogue Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp has managed to hit the bull’s eye in many of his onscreen outings. Here are some of his most memorable characters.
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Devilishly charming, glibe, resourceful, and more perceptive than he lets on. Depp’s swashbuckling Jack Sparrow was an enigma despite coming across as an open book. The superstar brought his own flair to the character and based it on the popular Looney Tunes cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew and Rolling Stones co-founder Keith Richards. Sparrow was originally scheduled to be a supporting character in ‘The Pirates Of The Caribbean’ franchise, but Depp managed to overshadow the leads in the first film, and Sparrow was promoted to leading man in the next movies.
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The 1990 fantasy romance film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ marked the start of a decade-long successful collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton. Born with razor-sharp scissors as hands, Edward is the quintessential loveable misfit, a not-quite Byronic hero. Depp put up a nuanced performance as the shy, underconfident humanoid who struggles to navigate human society yet craves companionship.
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Depp again provided his mettle in the 1999 Burton directorial ‘Sleepy Hollow’. The film was based on Washington Irving’s short story ‘The Legend Of The Sleepy Hollow’ and although the character was originally an extroverted schoolmaster, Depp turned the character into a finicky New York City police constable. At a time when most police characters were made to be stoic and hypermasculine, Depp infused a nice dose of vulnerability into the role. He made us believe that yes, even a police constable can flinch at the sight of blood!
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Is there anything such as ‘deliciously diabolic’? That’s the only way, to sum up, Depp’s Mephistophelian barber, the protagonist of the eponymously named 2007 Tim Burton slasher horror. Depp was a riot (and menacing to boot) as Sweeney Todd, a skilled barber who moonlights as a murderer. Warning: After watching this film, you will not be able to look at mince pies the same way again.
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Depp was on point (and extremely relatable) as the small-town youth with stars in his eyes who longs for something bigger and grander but is stuck with a mundane job as a store clerk and is bogged down by two grave responsibilities - an obese mother and a specially-abled younger brother. The usually flamboyant Depp delivers a surprisingly sensitive performance as a youth torn between his dreams and responsibilities.
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Depp put up another remarkably restrained performance as the celebrated author-playwright JM Barrie, the man who penned ‘Peter Pan’ in the 2004 film ‘Finding Neverland’. Depp is extremely convincing as the man who throws social norms and rationality to the winds as he finds his muses in a young widow and her four sons.
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In this eponymously named 1994 film, Depp stepped into the shoes of the ‘worst filmmakers of all time’. As Ed Wood, Depp brings the right amount of charm and pathos. As the earnest filmmaker who is only subjected to trolling and lack of recognition, he is nothing short of heartbreaking.
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