Actor Johnny Depp has had a long and extremely successful career as a character actor. Depp’s relationship with Amber Heard has made countless headlines in recent years, and he has many acclaimed film roles on his resume. This includes John Waters’ 1990 musical crybabywhich some consider to be one of Johnny Depp’s greatest roles. And this prolific filmmaker recently recalled that Depp hated being a teen heartthrob when he first became famous.
crybaby is a musical romantic comedy full of John Waters’ unique sensibility and sense of humor. Johnny Depp plays the title character of the film, a delinquent youth in the 1950s. The Hairspray The filmmaker spoke to IndieWire about his memories of that film, including the mega-fame that Depp already experienced (and hated). In his words:
Johnny Depp was at the peak of his career with 21 Jump Street, he was on the cover of all the teen magazines, he was Justin Bieber… and he hated it! So I always said to him, “Why do you hate it? That’s the whole point of it, to become so famous you can never leave the house again!” And he couldn’t do it then. He couldn’t go outside. When we shot the movie outside, there were hundreds of girls running around, falling backwards and crying. They tried to buy his sewage from under his trailer from the Teamsters!
There you have it. Sounds like Depp is not happy about the lack of privacy that comes with his 21 Jump Street Fame. Of course, this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the dark side of fame, especially after the libel trial against Depp and Heard began.
John Waters’ comments help lift the veil on what Johnny Depp was like decades ago. Despite everything that has changed since then, it sounds like the 61-year-old actor has remained consistent in his dislike of mega-fame. After the libel trial ended, Depp moved to Europe to have some privacy.
Later in the same interview, Waters talked about how Depp was a heartthrob at the time and how strange roles like crybaby and Tim Burton’s films helped him to get rid of this image. In his words:
He wanted to change all that by making fun of it, in a good way. And I think he made the right decision. We helped him change that. Then Tim Burton came along and everything changed. But I have to admit, I’m the one who finally got to show Johnny “Edward Penishands” for the first time.
Edward Penis Hands was a porn parody of Tim Burton’s film, which remains one of Johnny Depp’s most iconic roles to this day. And taking on other strange roles ultimately helped the actor launch his career.
It will be interesting to see if/when Depp finally takes on a major Hollywood film project again. He has tried his hand at the industry again, but hasn’t landed any major roles since the libel verdict was announced. In the meantime, check out the movie release dates for 2025.
