Depp wants to be in control
2004-03-09 10:22
New York - Johnny Depp isn't adverse to acting a little weird - even off camera.
The actor, whose role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl earned him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination, said he has disliked conformity since his career began.
Depp told the latest edition of Time magazine that in the 1980s he was so desperate to get out of playing heart-throb detective Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street that he purposely wore odd clothes and spoke in tongues on the set.
The producers, though, didn't buy the nutty routine.
"It was a weird thing not to be in control of your own image," he said. "I remember saying to myself, man, when I'm free of this, I'm going to do only the things that I want to do. I'm going to go down whatever road I decide."
Depp, 40, whose credits include Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Blow, said he picks scripts to keep himself and the audience off-kilter.
"All the amazing people that I've worked with - Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman have told me consistently: Don't compromise. Do your work, and if what you're giving is not what they want, you have to be prepared to walk away."
- AP