IT’S going to be another Johnny Depp summer. A couple of years ago we were all charmed by Captain Jack Sparrow and his latest Pirates of the Caribbean adventure. This summer Johnny appears along with Colin Farrell, Jude Law and the late Heath Ledger in a strange fantasy film called The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, followed by a contrasting role as gangster John Dillinger. Public Enemies is due for release during July and Johnny, along with Christian Bale, plays a bad guy who has become something of a legend in American crime history. With four more films on the horizon the force of Johnny Depp is certainly with us for some time to come. But what is it that makes him so special?

“I never set out to be an actor, I never even thought about it,” he explains. “I went through all the phases that you do when you are growing up. First I wanted to be a rock star and I played guitar in a couple of bands. I left school at 16 to do that and one band, The Kids, started to get somewhere but then it all just kind of stopped. I quite liked the idea of being a stuntman like Evel Knievel so that was another phase I went through. I think before that I was pretty good at basketball and used to show off by doing tricks with the ball. I fancied myself as the first white Harlem Globetrotter.

“When I was a kid I had many ideas but never that I could really be an actor. I was just a Kentucky boy being raised in Florida, and Hollywood was on another planet. I was into movies in a big way, though and thought maybe I could be the next Bruce Lee at one stage but I think that was more to do with the stunts than the acting.”

Johnny came from a broken family and learned lessons that he has tried to put into practice since becoming a parent himself. 

“My mum and dad did not get on so well and they split when I was growing up. That doesn’t help because you can get very confused and wonder if it was all your fault. When you get older you understand these things better but when you don’t really know anything about human relationships, it raises a whole load of questions.

“I’m glad I didn’t have children until Vanessa (Paradis) and I got together. I think when you are young you are hoping that this person will be the right one, the one you are going to be in love with forever, but sometimes you want that so much you create something that isn’t really there.

“I think I went through a number of relationships when I was younger because of that. I was very young when I married Lori Anne and probably it was because I was trying to create a situation. We married in 1983 but it didn’t last very long and that was probably because I wasn’t ready to handle such a commitment. I then got engaged to Jenny Grey, Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. But it wasn’t until I met Vanessa that life started to be real.”

All these relationships have probably contributed to his amazing skills as an actor but Johnny believes there is another ingredient. 

“When I look back I shudder sometimes. I have done some really stupid things, which seemed to be right at the time. You know when I was with Winona I had a tattoo which said ‘Winona forever’. When we split I had it changed to ‘Wino forever’. It was easier than having the whole thing removed. 

“I have had a few other problems too but I have never been into drugs in the way that some papers have said. They started to brand me as some kind of wild man which was never true. I have done some wild things and got into a few fights of one sort or another but nothing heavy.”

Johnny has no regrets about taking up an acting career even though it wasn’t on his ambitions list. 

“Although I didn’t realise it, I think I was born to act,” he says. “Everything led me down that road. When Lori Anne and I were together I actually sold pens to earn some money. I was never going to win a salesman of the year award though. Then when we were in LA on a trip, we met up with Nicolas Cage, got talking and it was his encouragement that made me try for a career as an actor. Nobody is more amazed than me that it has worked.

“My whole world seems to be a little crazy sometimes. When you play so many different parts they all stay with you a little. When I was Edward Scissorhands I remember on the last day of shooting I felt really sad, quite empty. I had played that guy for maybe 90 days. When the make-up went on for the last time I knew I was going to miss him but in truth he has never totally gone away. Few of them do. That says something about actors, doesn’t it?”

Johnny has managed to keep his feet on the ground and not believe his own publicity.

“You do get quite a lot of privileges in this job,” he says. “You meet people you would not normally have the chance to meet and you go to places you wouldn’t otherwise be allowed. One of the most amazing moments of my life was meeting one of my heroes, Vincent Price. I showed him a book, a first edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete works. It had some great drawings and he loved it. Then he closed the book and recited The Tomb of Ligeia word for word. It was fantastic to hear him with that wonderful voice of his. It was one of those rare experiences you never forget.

“It’s a bit like the moment your children arrive. That’s something really very special. I remember when my sister Christi had a baby daughter I was 17 and thought she was just fantastic. I used to spend quite a lot of time with her because she was so amazing. Later I became a dad myself with Lily-Rose first of all and then Jack. They have put everything into perspective. Before Lily-Rose was born there were things that seemed important but really were not. It was as if everything was just an illusion but the birth of your child is real. Somehow it brings you to real life.”

Johnny has hit upon his favourite subject — his children.

“Lily-Rose is wonderful, a little angel and Jack is just great,” he smiles. “I love to see them when they wake up in the morning, kind of wide-eyed and surprised. If I am working and don’t see them for a few days it really gets to me. I could just sit and watch them grow. They are the real thing. They give you stability. 

“They see life through totally innocent eyes and they say the most incredible things. Sometimes they just render you speechless and that is pretty cool for me.

“Privacy with my family is very important to me. It’s strange how it works out because doing what I do means that you can lose your privacy but at the same time it earns you the money that enables you to buy some privacy. It’s a strange world.

“I don’t mind signing autographs and talking to people although I am by nature a shy kind of a guy. What I don’t like is when people take your photograph without asking.”

When he is not filming in Hollywood or some exotic location, Johnny feels most at home in France.

“I spend a lot of time in France because I love Europe. There is such great culture and heritage in Europe, real history. I am an American and I love my country but I worry about American culture sometimes. 

“France is very different, whether it’s Paris or in the country. I learned to speak French just so that I could impress Vanessa’s parents. I don’t know if they were impressed but I’m glad I did because I enjoy living there so much more. I travel back to the States a lot, of course, and we all go as often as possible. We have a home in LA which was once owned by Bela Lugosi. His old movies were great. I’m really into that kind of thing. I love real mysteries too, which is why I found the story of Jack the Ripper so fascinating. I read once that I was a fan of Jack the Ripper. How can you be a fan of Jack the Ripper? I just find it an amazing story, that a guy did all those horrible things and nobody ever really knew who he was.”

So how does Johnny fill his leisure time?

“I spend as much real family time as possible, spoiling the kids. We are into healthy eating and all that stuff but that doesn’t mean they don’t get bars of chocolate. I was allergic to chocolate for a while when I was a kid. It was funny when I was cast to play Willy Wonka considering I couldn’t eat chocolate when I was young. 

“I’m still into movies but mostly older ones. I don’t watch many modern movies unless they are something I can watch with my kids, like Shrek or Finding Nemo. I don’t always like to watch my own movies. I have been known to go to premieres and leave through a back door as soon as it is polite to do so.

“I’m still into music, of course, and I’m good friends with Oasis. I’m still a wannabe rock star. I love music but I also love to laugh and that’s one of the things I really liked about Captain Jack Sparrow. I realised that he could be a funny character and while there was all the swashbuckling stuff, the sword fighting and all that, he could still be a funny guy. I liked him like that and that’s one of the reasons why I chose to play him more than once and would again if there was a chance. 

“I don’t often play the same character more than once because I can find it boring and I always think that if I find it boring the audience will too. That’s why I like to play so many different characters. I think if all people got was Johnny Depp they would soon get bored. 

“I don’t think I’m a great actor. James Dean, Marlon Brando — they were something special. Brando had tremendous presence but he was like that off screen too. He had a great mind. He’s one of my heroes. I don’t want to be like him, I couldn’t be like him. I don’t really want to be like anyone. I am just Johnny Depp, an actor because that’s what I do. I don’t have great ambitions except to watch my kids grow up as safely and as nicely as possible. One day I want to be a typical old American guy, sitting on the porch watching the sunset. I imagine myself doing that and really that’s what the movie business is all about, imagining things and creating something that will help other people imagine and just feel a bit better about things.”