Anne crowd
By Gary Mays
gmays@daily-journal.com
815-937-3359
It was about half past 10 when Johnny Depp finally appeared before an adoring, patient crowd, who had waited hours to see the movie star outside St. Anne High School. Having changed out of his Dillinger-era get-up, Depp walked casually from behind the lot of movie trailers wearing an orange ?Gonzo? T-shirt and funky head sock.
Depp was in the area Thursday to film scenes for the movie, ?Public Enemies,? a Depression-era gangster film slated for a July 2009 release. In it, Depp plays notorious criminal, John Dillinger.
But few people cared about the film, they just wanted to meet the man. Once word got out that Depp was outside his trailer, the refrain came, ?We love you, Johnny.? And with each shout or blown kiss, the actor smiled appreciatively, making every effort to acknowledge fans with a wave or a nod. And the crowd ate it up. Young and old, everyone was a Depp fan in St. Anne on Thursday.
Depp a big hit with fans in St.Anne
The 45-year-old star had seen the gathering crowd ? easily larger than the town?s population ? waiting for him throughout the hot summer day, as he went back and forth to the set, in a modified old farm house just outside of town.
?His hands were so soft,? said 21-year-old Christy Craft, of Bradley, one of many who touched the actor as he reached out to just about everyone he could along a long, but peaceful rope line. With security surrounding him, Depp worked the line with a grin, escorted by his own security contingent; and plenty of deputies from the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department ? led for much of the way by shift commander Lt. Bill Carnahan.
After a still smiling Depp finally sped off in an SUV, Carnahan sheepishly admitted to also grabbing Depp?s hand ? but just to guide the actor along, as scores of cameras flashed rapid-fire in his face.
?He did very well with that crowd, and everyone was polite and supportive of him, so that helped,? said Carnahan. ?He seemed to enjoy meeting all of them and was very nice.
Depp, who has played everything from a swashbuckling pirate to journalist Hunter S. Thompson ? was here filming because his character, infamous mobster Dillinger was part of a mob known to frequent the rural Illinois-Indiana border, among other haunts, before being gunned down outside Chicago?s Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.
Patrick Rios and his brother, Esainios, were among the many St. Anne kids who spent their summer day cruising around looking for movie actors and extras. Every once in a while a movie crew van or an old Packard from the set would role down the street, sans license plates, and park behind the high school were the ?Public Enemies? crew had set up camp.
?That’s got to be the whole town,? said Patrick, staring down the hill at the high school hours before Depp showed up. ?That’s all of St. Anne.
?No, it isn?t? said his brother. ?It?s like St. Anne and Aroma Park and maybe parts of Kankakee, that’s what it is.
https://video. ap. org/v/default. aspx?f=ILKAN&g=716cdfaf-b267-4a0d-b79a-52591d7aa00c&mk=en-ap&fg=svip_copy
