Johnny Depp has been open in the past about his path from indie actor to major box office draw and how originally Disney wasn't sold on his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. However, in a recent tell-all interview with GQ, Johnny Depp really got into detail about what happened after he became a major name in Hollywood. Overall, he said he was "freaked out" by the fame, noting,
I was freaked out by it. I mean, at the beginning I genuinely didn't give a fuck about acting. But I began to enjoy it. I enjoyed creating those characters up there, being in the trenches and sparring with collaborators, actors, directors... The trouble with working with these big studios is they can get uncomfortable about certain creative decisions you make. That happened with Pirates. My view is if the studio isn't worried then I'm not doing my job properly.
Speaking out about his career, Johnny Depp mulled over switching from taking roles like Ed Wood or Edward Scissorhands to taking on roles that plenty of children and adults alike are familiar with. Although Depp is now-famous for turns in Alice in Wonderland and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, it was the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie that bumped him from a fairly popular lead to one of the largest stars in Hollywood, a role that did come with pitfalls. Namely, Depp revealed that working with the studios proved to be more difficult than some of his other, less expensive movies.
While Johnny Depp also opened up about Amber Heard and the myriad lawsuits that have been a major part of his life recently in the interview with GQ, some of the stuff he mentioned about acting and about working with Disney is among the most interesting. He also brought up the story about how Disney early on didn't really get what Johnny Depp was going for with Captain Jack Sparrow, echoing comments he'd made previously mentioning that the higher-ups at Disney did not get on board until after the first movie in the franchise became successful.
Johnny Depp was clear about his direction with the character and the first movie went on to make more than $654 worldwide. Looking back, the actor mentioned he wasn't mad at the House of Mouse for all the questioning the studio did regarding the character, but he does believe studios should know what they are getting into when they sign him on for a role. He said:
No. I told them, 'Look, you don't like what I'm doing, fire me. You hired me to do a job and play the character and this is what I want to do.' This is the work. I mean, hadn't they seen any of the work I'd done previously? You might want to take a look at that before you hire a motherfucker, you know?
Fame has its pitfalls, but despite the drama Johnny Depp has been embroiled in, he's seen some lawsuit wins lately and his career is still going strong. You can next catch the actor in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which will hit theaters on November 16. Or see what else Johnny Depp has coming up with our full guide.
