Disney's First Matey Doesn't Johnny
Depp know anything? Doesn't he know that there are two types of performers --
actors and stars -- and that he belongs to the former category? Actors appear
in independent, impenetrable movies as dark, tortured geniuses. They are
adored by critics and shunned by audiences. They live in France. They
do not -- repeat, do not -- show up in movies with the name ''Bruckheimer''
in the credits. Especially not if that movie is based on a Disney theme-park
ride.
And yet
there Johnny Depp was, starring in ''Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl'' -- and, almost as bizarre, he seemed to be
having the time of his life. Depp's previous performances had a certain
remoteness, but in ''Pirates'' he let audiences in on the fun. His blurry,
slurry Jack Sparrow was an effeminate, self-dramatizing lush, but Depp played
him with a wink, as if to say, ''Can you believe they're letting me get away
with this?'' They almost didn't, of course: Some Disney executives tried to
rein in his performance. Those same executives called to thank him as the
film blew past $300 million at the domestic box office, becoming the year's
most unexpected hit. ''I've felt for years that the moviegoing audience has
been underestimated,'' Depp says. ''So with 'Pirates,' it felt good to get
letters and phone calls from certain Disney executives who said, 'You were
right, I was wrong.''' --by Tim Carvell , with reporting by
Chris Nashawaty
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