Johnny Depp makes eccentric characters worth caring about when he lets their need for other people show. We rate the eager, responsive actor in Ed Wood above the performer who can let mannerisms do too much.
Fi1m perspective
In Ed Wood (1994), Johnny Depp delivers optimism as though the latest failure need only delay the next attempt. His eagerness is funny, and he makes Wood's belief in the next film seem useful to everyone around him. It is a warm, persuasive performance, though the enthusiasm becomes tiring when it has to carry too many scenes. Tim Burton and the writers allow Wood so little doubt that Depp sometimes has little else to play.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) began the Burton partnership and established Depp as a vulnerable outsider. Through the early 1990s he pursued idiosyncratic independent roles, making the misfit a recurring choice. Burton, his director across eight films, repeatedly gave him gothic, fantastical or period characters. Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) took that eccentricity into a large-scale franchise. He patterned the character on Keith Richards, carrying his musical interests into the performance.
The musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) gave his vocal skills a clear purpose. The later move towards family-oriented blockbusters included Alice in Wonderland (2010). In Dark Shadows (2012), the exaggeration becomes harder to enjoy. We do not need Depp to become ordinary, but we do need a character with something to do once the voice and the physical alterations are in place.
In Ed Wood, Martin Landau's Bela Lugosi gives him precisely that extra work. Landau lets uncertainty and vulnerability through Lugosi's bluster, giving Depp something to respond to besides his own enthusiasm. We were moved by Lugosi's need for company, because Landau makes it immediate and Depp's eagerness becomes more touching beside him. Their friendship gives the performance some friction without requiring Wood to abandon his ambitions. Begin with Ed Wood if the later mannerisms have made it difficult to remember how engaging Depp can be.
Biography
Johnny Depp is an American actor, producer and musician, also credited as John Christopher Depp II. Born on 9 June 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, he left school at 15 and played in rock bands before entering acting. His film debut came in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, after encouragement from Nicolas Cage. He rose to wider attention as a regular in the television series 21 Jump Street (1987–1990).
Depp is known for frequent collaborations with director Tim Burton, starring in the title roles of Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Ed Wood (1994). Other notable films include Donnie Brasco (1997), the Pirates of the Caribbean series (from 2003) as Captain Jack Sparrow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). He has received a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, along with nominations for three Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards.
