Film roles
Depp's first major role was in the 1984 classic horror film
A Nightmare on Elm Street, playing the boyfriend of the heroine, Nancy Thompson (played by Heather Langenkamp) and one of Freddy Krueger's victims.
Depp was the first choice and was cast to star in the 1986 American skater drama film
Thrashin', chosen and cast by the director but ultimately rejected by the film's producer.
In 1986, he appeared in a secondary role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's
Platoon. In 1990, he undertook the quirky title role of the Tim Burton film,
Edward Scissorhands. The film's success began his long association with Burton.
Depp, a fan and long-time friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, played a version of Thompson (named Raoul Duke) in 1998's
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the writer's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Depp accompanied Thompson as his road manager on one of the author's last book tours.
In 2006, Depp contributed a foreword to
Gonzo: Photographs by Hunter S. Thompson, a posthumous biography published by ammobooks.com. In 2008, he narrated the documentary film
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Depp paid for most of Thompson's memorial event, complete with fireworks and the shooting of Thompson's ashes by a cannon, in Aspen, Colorado, where Thompson lived. He returned to Thompson's work with a film adaptation of the novel
The Rum Diary, released in 2011.
Critics have described Depp's roles as characters who are "iconic loners." Depp has noted this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison," but he thought the studios never understood the films and did not do a good job of marketing. Depp has chosen roles which he found interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office.
The 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a major success, in which Depp's performance as the suave but shambling pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was highly praised. Studio bosses were more ambivalent at first, but the character became popular with the movie-going public. According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp was a major draw for audiences. The film's director, Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp's character closely resembles the actor's personality, but Depp said he modeled the character after The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, for playing Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film
Finding Neverland. Depp next starred as Willy Wonka in the 2005 film
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a major success at the box office and earning him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy
Depp returned to the role of Jack Sparrow for the sequel
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,
which opened on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first
three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record of the
highest weekend tally. The next sequel to
Pirates of the Caribbean,
At World's End,
was released May 24, 2007. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a
big part of me", and he wants to play the role in further sequels. Depp voiced Sparrow in the video game,
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp's swashbuckling sword talents as developed for the character of Jack Sparrow, were highlighted in the documentary film
Reclaiming the Blade. Within the film, Swordmaster Bob Anderson shared his experiences working with Depp on the choreography for
The Curse of the Black Pearl. Anderson described in the film Depp's ability as an actor to pick up the sword to be "about as good as you can get."
Depp and Gore Verbinski were executive producers of the album
Rogues Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Depp thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and praised Tim Burton for his "unwavering trust and support."
Depp played the former Heath Ledger character in the 2009 film,
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All three actors gave their salaries from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. He portrayed the Mad Hatter in Burton's
Alice in Wonderland, and the titular character in
Rango.
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