Trashwire MySpace friend Anne Rakowiecki got to realize a dream when she met Johnny Depp on the Chicago set of his new film Public Enemies. Read her firsthand account and check out her pictures below.
If you would have told me years, months, or even days ago that I would someday be hugging Johnny Depp in a 7/11 parking lot across the street from Wrigley Field at five o?clock in the morning?I would have laughed in your face and asked you what drugs you had consumed that day.
But, on April 4, 2008, it happened.
The story is kind of funny, actually. It all started with 21 Jump Street. That?s not the funny part, though. The funny part is that it all ended with 21 Jump Street.
It was another typical Thursday night; hanging out with my friends Sara and Jessica, watching our favorite late 80?s cop drama. We were joking around about all the silly Jump Street questions we?d ask Johnny if we met him. It was always, ?When we meet Johnny Depp ? because it will happen – we?re going to ask him what his favorite episode is.? We thought this was so funny. Funny because we never, ever, in our wildest dreams, ever thought we would actually get to meet him.
Backtrack to when I first discovered that Johnny would be in Chicago filming a movie. March 12, I believe it was. Jessica told me this through instant message. I ran down the hallway and barged into her room: ?WHAT?!?!? She told me it was a 1930?s historical gangster film called Public Enemies where Johnny plays notorious bank robber John Dillinger. ?He?s already been in Chicago for two days,? she said, ?and he?ll be here into the summer.? I fell to my knees and looked to the heavens as a guttural moan/scream erupted from the depths of my soul. Johnny was within miles of me. He was here.
Now, I don?t need to tell you how much I love Johnny Depp (if you can?t already tell), but I?m going to anyway: He is, hands down, my single favorite actor. My friend Sara and I have seen nearly every movie he?s ever been in, even if he wasn?t the lead, even if he only had a 15-second-long part, or even if the only possible way to see the movie is to illegally download it. We?ve watched all of seasons one and two of 21 Jump Street, and I know beyond doubt that by June we will have watched every single episode in which Johnny appeared. I own nearly a hundred DVDs, and I organize them by genre. ?Johnny Depp Movies? is, in itself, a genre within my movie collection. Finally, if I were given the chance to choose any musician, author, or actor to meet, I would choose Johnny. And that?s over J.K. Rowling, you guys. Which is a big deal.
Do you understand now? Good.
Back to Thursday: Jessica, Sara, and I watching Jump Street at Sara?s apartment downtown. After we gorged ourselves on ice cream, pizza, and silly Jump Street humor, we decided, at about 11:00 PM, to head up north to check out the movie set. We met up with two of our friends, one of whom told us that she talked to some shady autograph collector, and he told her where Johnny?s trailer was. We hung out at the set for awhile, but alas, Johnny was not there. However, we did stay until about 2:00 AM and watched the filming. Although we didn?t know if we could – or should – trust the information from the autograph collector, we decided to give it a shot. We only had to walk a few blocks until we saw the spot: there was the 7/11. The parking lot behind the 7/11, this is where his trailer was supposed to be. There were, indeed, trailers parked there, and a guy and a girl were sitting on a small curb right next to this lot. We talked to them for a second; the girl said that she had seen Johnny there the night before, and she bravely confided in us, ?When I saw him?I peed in my pants a little bit.?
It?s okay. We completely understand.
We made the definitive choice to stay and wait at the trailer, with no end ? or guarantee of Johnny ? in sight. It looked like we were going to have to suck it up and try to forget how cold it was. Oh, and it was starting to drizzle, too. Perfect. We sat on the curb next to the guy and the girl. We sat. And sat. And sat. Security guards kept coming over to us and told us that we should leave because Johnny wasn?t going to be there. Oh, we were so very close to giving up. But Sara pointed out, ?I?d rather stay and have nothing happen than leave and miss out on something.? Truer words were never spoken. Two other girls showed up and joined our waiting party. There were nine of us now. Finally, at about 3:30, this guy (who we later learned to be Johnny?s bodyguard) walked over to us and asked, ?Who are you waiting for?? We hesitated, ??Johnny Depp.? Shit. This is it. This is the part where he tells us that Johnny won?t be coming out and that we really did just sit in the freezing cold and rain for absolutely nothing.
?Do you have anything you want him to sign??
WHAT?!? NO fucking way. We all nodded violently as we frantically dug through our purses and bags. Luckily, I had been carrying around my Edward Scissorhands DVD for the past few days because I knew I would be Johnny-hunting and would be on the movie set, (I had stayed overnight at the movie set the night before and had seen Johnny filming, but didn?t get to talk to him), and I had put it in my purse out of mere foolish hopefulness. Thank God I?m foolishly hopeful.
He told us to write our names on the back of whatever we wanted him to sign so Johnny could personalize them. He said, ?Okay, I?m gonna have him sign these, and when he?s finished changing he?ll come out and do some pictures, alright?? And he walked away with our stuff, leaving a very shocked group of people in his wake.
Sara and I couldn?t comprehend it. This really couldn?t be happening. In a matter of minutes, Johnny Depp could be standing directly in front of us. No, no, no. Sara was on the verge of throwing up. I didn?t want that to happen, so I suggested we sing some Sweeney Todd songs, which we did. We tried discussing unrelated topics, none of which I can recall now. But nothing could diminish our excitement. Except, perhaps, the passing of 45 minutes.
It was around 4:15. What the shit?! This guy can?t just leave us hanging here! The prospect of meeting Johnny was growing dim, but even if we weren?t going to get to meet him, we were getting autographs, which was more than any of us had bargained for, and that alone was exciting enough.
Then, six more girls joined our group. The bodyguard came back out and told us that there were now too many of us and Johnny wouldn?t be coming out anymore. (I?m sure this was the bodyguard?s rule, not Johnny?s.) I don?t get angry very easily, but this was one of the rare times in my life where I got extremely, extremely pissed off. What bullshit this was. I kept shooting the girls the dirtiest possible looks that I could form my face into. I cussed about them loudly. Hint, hint, girls. Hint, hint. Then, the bodyguard walked over to us again and gave us our autographed stuff. This calmed me a great deal. I looked at the DVD cover:
?Anne = All my best. Johnny Depp.?
Damn. That right there is enough to make anybody feel better.
We all remained there in a heavy stage of worry, waiting for something, anything to happen. I was overjoyed that I got the autograph, but I was also very, very upset that my one chance of ever meeting my favorite actor was ruined by six giggling girls.
I?m not sure what exactly happened next. But the next thing I knew, the bodyguard was motioning for us to come and stand by Johnny?s trailer: ?Alright, over here. Make a line.?
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
We formed a line, all fifteen of us, and stared at Johnny?s trailer. I was third in line. One minute passed?..two minutes?.three?. I couldn?t take this anticipation. The very real thought that Johnny Depp would be near me, that I would be speaking to him, that he would be speaking to me, that I would get to touch him – I couldn?t handle it. I was either going to explode, pass out, or shit myself. And I didn?t want any of those things to happen. Not right now. Dear LORD, anytime but right now! I had to think about something else. I turned to Sara on my left, who was fourth in line right next me. I began talking to her about God knows what. And then?she suddenly grasped my arm. I shut up.
What I did next, I remember as being a big, clich
