Ed Wood
About the Film
Hollywood, the early 1950s. Aspiring filmmaker Edward D. Wood Jr. — irrepressibly upbeat, secretly a cross-dresser and, by most measures, spectacularly untalented — chases his dream of directing despite rejection at every turn. When he befriends his childhood idol, the ageing, morphine-addicted horror star Bela Lugosi, an unlikely, tender friendship forms.
Scraping together money and cast-offs, Ed barrels through one gloriously misbegotten production after another — from Glen or Glenda to the immortal Plan 9 from Outer Space — buoyed by pure, undimmable enthusiasm. Tim Burton’s black-and-white love letter to a man later crowned the worst director of all time.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Ed Wood, the eternally optimistic, angora-loving Z-movie director whose sincerity and passion never wavered no matter how bad the results. Depp based the sunny, wide-eyed performance partly on the Tin Man and Ronald Reagan’s can-do delivery.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Ed WoodJohnny Depp
Bela LugosiMartin Landau
Dolores FullerSarah Jessica Parker
Kathy O’HaraPatricia Arquette
The Amazing CriswellJeffrey Jones
Bunny BreckinridgeBill Murray
VampiraLisa Marie
Orson WellesVincent D’Onofrio
Reverend LemonG.D. Spradlin
George WeissMike Starr
Crew
DirectorTim Burton
ScreenplayScott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski
MusicHoward Shore
CinematographyStefan Czapsky
ProducersDenise Di Novi, Tim Burton
“Filmmaking is not about the tiny details. It’s about the big picture.”
— Ed Wood, Ed Wood
Filming Locations
- Various locations in and around Los Angeles, California
More about this film
Trivia
- Tim Burton waived his director’s salary to get the film made.
- Columbia put the project in turnaround because Burton insisted on shooting entirely in black-and-white; Disney’s Touchstone picked it up.
- Depp developed Ed’s relentless optimism partly from Jack Haley’s Tin Man and Ronald Reagan’s speeches.
- Martin Landau studied 25 Bela Lugosi films and seven interviews to prepare his Oscar-winning role.
Awards
- 1995 Academy Award — Best Supporting Actor (Martin Landau) Won
- 1995 Academy Award — Best Makeup Won
- 1995 Golden Globe — Best Supporting Actor (Martin Landau) Won
- 1995 Golden Globe nominations — Best Actor (Johnny Depp), Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
- 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award — Best Supporting Actor (Martin Landau) Won
DVD Easter Eggs
- A deleted “Que Sera, Sera” scene is hidden in Bonus Materials (page two) → Deleted Scenes: highlight “Que Sera Sera” twice until a lightning bolt appears top-right, then select it for a two-minute Ed Wood / Bela Lugosi scene.
