TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE
An Interview with Johnny Deep

Traveling a long way from 21 Jump Street (I had to do it), Johnny Depp has made a remarkable career for himself with his unpredictable yet fascinatingly versatile roles. While already revered by film fanatics and his fellow actors, his turn as Jack- excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow, in Pirates of the Caribbean has earned him some well deserved mainstream success as well. With a voice-over role in the upcoming Corpse Bride, his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton, Johnny had a chance to do something for the seeds.

“It was something I wanted to do,” Depp confessed. “Kind of always wanted to do, especially since having my first child. I’ve been watching nothing but animated films now. So really developed a respect and love for them. But more than anything what drew me to this was Tim [Burton]. We were just commencing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and he said ‘Hey, you know I got this other thing going on, Corpse Bride. Maybe you want to take a look at it.’ So I read it, loved it. Somehow it didn’t occur to me that we were going to be doing it at the same time. (chuckles) I thought it was going to be months down the road so I would have some kind of way to prepare for the character. So you can imagine my surprise when I was very, very focused on Wonka, Tim arrived on set and says, ‘Hey, you know, maybe tonight we’ll go and record some of Corpse Bride.’ (room laughs)”

Thrust into kiddie territory, the man, the myth, the Depp had to make due with a crash course on his character.

“Well, everything for Corpse Bride happened very quick. It all happened in like fifteen-twenty minutes which was good because I’d finish the day as Wonka and then after work Tim and I would go over to the studio for the session. So, the process lasted about the length of the walk from the sound stage to the recording studio, where I just grilled him. You know, I said, ‘Okay, where’s he from? What do you want him to sound like?’ And then he was just born in that little bit of time. And I didn’t hear him for the first time until, believe it or not, until the middle of recording.”

With a film like this, adult opinion doesn’t weigh much against the real critics. Depp relays his children’s take on the gothic stop-motion feature.

“My daughter’s six. My boy is three. My daughter, she’s quite calm and ladylike and princessy. So she can sit there and watch a movie and not get real antsy. Normally, my boy will watch for about three-and-a-half seconds and then sprint as fast as he can across the room to go and break something. With this film, we watched Corpse Bride together. My boy sat on my lap and watched the entire film. Just didn’t move. Just riveted. Loved it. Which says a lot because, I mean, it’s pretty full.”

Johnny’s animated counterpart was on board way before he was. Depp discusses how inspiration came with a little help from his friend.

“Well, I was very lucky in that I got to meet Victor, the puppet, just before the session. So, just as I was kind of finding out who he might be, I walked into the room, the recording studio, and there he was. The amazing thing is, some people say there’s some degree of resemblance. But frankly they came up with those designs like a year before.”

Depp has been hailed as one of the greatest character actors of his generation, creating some of the strangest, most intriguing characters in recent film history. Some advice from the great one, however, taught him not to rest on his laurels.

There was a moment years back when I was sitting and having a conversation with good old Marlon Brando, and he said (in a spot on Brando impression) ‘How many movies do you do a year?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Sometimes two. Sometimes three.’ He said, (once again channeling the Godfather)‘You better watch yourself.’ I said, ‘Why is that?’ He said, (quoting once again but in regular Johnny voice) ‘Because we only have so many faces in our pockets.’ And you know, all this time later, I realize how right he was. Very, very wise.