Teen Machine, 1998 – Everything You Wanted to Know
Title: Everything You Wanted to Know
Publication: Teen Machine
Issue: 1998
Dark-eyed Johnny Depp might view himself as one of television’s most reluctant sex symbols, but everytime he appears on the screen, the hearts of viewers can’t help but hop to 21 Jump Street.
When Johnny was growing up in Miramar, Florida, the last destination he envisioned for himself was on a television show At that time, all he wanted to do was play in a rock and roll band. He recalls: “People would remember me as the kid with the long hair who was always playing guitar. I used to bring my guitar to school, skip certain classes and sneak into the guitar class. That’s pretty much how I spent my high school years.”
He finally become a player in a band called the Kids, and they headed out to Hollywood in the hopes of landing a record deal. Once when they were playing a gig at one of the clubs on Sunset Strip, Johnny met and befriended Moonstruck star Nicolas Cage. Johnny’s cash flow of the time was very low, so when Nicholas offered to introduce Johnny to his agent, Johnny complied. He explains: “She sent me out on an audition. The director gave me a script and told me to study it; I did, came bock two days later, read for the part and they gave it to me. That was my first film—Nightmare on Elm Street.”
Johnny very quickly learned the difference between playing in a band and acting. Ho discovered that as part of a band, he had three other people working and pulling with him. But with acting, he says: “I found it was just me. It all depended on me I had to make my own choices”
He wasn’t too thrilled, to say the least, by his second choice of acting jobs in what he describes as a terrible sex-ploitation film called Private Resort. He admits: “I figured at least I was earning my living by acting and that beat working at Burger King. And I got paid for learning.”
Johnny’s turning point as an actor came when he co-starred in the Oscar-winning film Platoon.
Although a lot of his work ended up on the floor of the editing room, he claims it was one of the best experiences he ever had. The experience was so intense that when Johnny returned to Los Angeles, he needed some time to chill out and began playing rock and roll again.
Six months later Johnny landed the plum port of Tom Hanson, the baby-faced rookie cop on the Fox television series 21 Jump Street. And the rest, Johnny believes, is a mystery.
It’s not that Johnny doesn’t appreciate all of the adoration and fan mail; it makes him happy. Yet the guy is basically shy and unused to being the center of attention.