After Johnny Depp was embroiled in a highly-public defamation lawsuit with his ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this year, which included claims of abuse against him, the trial’s verdict played in Depp’s favor. Just two months following this, the actor is back filming a movie in France called Jeanne Du Barry, and we have a first look at him as King Louis XV.
The film, which is being directed by French filmmaker and actress Maïwenn, sees Johnny Depp playing the famed king of France. Check out Depp as King Louis XV:
Johnny Depp As King Louis XV: First Image Released Of Actor In Maïwenn’s ‘Jeanne Du Barry’, Filming Underway In France https://t.co/ESSp36OTTKAugust 10, 2022
Johnny Depp is wearing a powdered wig and face, along with some blush and a regal outfit as Louis XV for the French film. He is blindfolded, perhaps as an artistic choice to the movie’s themes – the king’s legacy is embroiled in corruption.
Jeanne Du Barry will focus on the life of Jeanne Bécu (played by Maïwenn), who has a rags to riches story that takes her from being the illegitimate daughter of a poor seamstress to rising through the ranks of Louis XV’s court and becoming King Louis' last official mistress. The movie, which marks Depp’s first feature film role in three years, began shooting a couple weeks ago, and is set to continue rolling cameras into early October, per Deadline.
The film is going to be in French, which Johnny Depp can speak fluently. In fact, the mother to his two children, Vanessa Paradis, is a French model, actress and singer, and the pair have raised their children to be bilingual, speaking both English and French. Previously, the actor made a cameo in the 2004 French film Happily Ever After, where he spoke French, but Jeanne Du Barry marks a rare time of Depp going outside Hollywood to make a movie.
The story of working-class woman Jeanne Bécu being noticed by King Louis XV and the pair falling in love, creates further scandal in the monarch’s court. The movie is being filmed all over France, including King Louis XV’s home of Versailles.
Johnny Depp is coming off a nearly two-month defamation lawsuit where the actor was told to be awarded $10 million in damages from Amber Heard after his ex wife was found guilty on all three counts. Depp, on the other hand, was found guilty of one count in Heard’s defamation countersuit, and expected to pay her $2 million. Following the verdict, Depp shared his happiness, saying “the jury gave me my life back” on social media and teased a “new chapter” for himself.
Along with his upcoming movie, which we’d imagine might be part of 2023’s movie releases, Depp recently landed a seven-figure deal to continue to be the face of Dior’s fragrance Sauvage. With Depp’s new movie underway, it looks like the actor is going back into the swing of things professionally after months of trial drama.
