TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2005 – He shuns stardom, but Johnny Depp is still Hollywood royalty, writes Gayle MacDonald.
Before Johnny Depp entered the ballroom at the Sutton Place hotel this weekend, the room was abuzz with anticipation. Would he be shorter or taller than imagined? Would he be sporting his goatee and one of his frumpy hats? Would his deep-brown, usually unkempt locks, be long, short or pulled back in a pony tail?
Well, damned if any of us, sitting in the seats behind a sea of flash-bulb-frenzied paparazzi, had a clue. Practically frothing at the actor’s arrival, they screamed Depp’s name — “Turn left Johnny! Turn right Johnny!” — virtually ignoring the not-exactly lightweight company Depp was in, namely director Tim Burton (with whom the actor has made five films) and Burton’s feisty partner, Helena Bonham Carter, all here to talk about their new film, the stop-motion romance Corpse Bride.
When the moderator finally managed to get the mob in front to take their seats, Depp looked relieved but kind of stunned. He grimaced at Burton and Carter, and for the first 10 minutes of the press conference could not quite meet the gaze of anyone in the crowd.
There is celebrity elite, and then there is Hollywood royalty. And despite years of trying to shun stardom — and stridently searching for roles that were distinctly non-mainstream — Depp has still somehow landed himself in the surreal realm of the latter category. His stature clearly makes him squirm.
