Johnny Depp’s former front wife, agent and business manager has claimed the actor was hard to work with when drugs and alcohol allegedly dictated his behavior.
However, many of Depp’s former co-stars provide a fair and stark contrast to recent testimony during the 58-year-old movie star’s vicious defamation lawsuit with ex-wife and “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard, 36. .
First up: Actress Ellen Barkin, who was romantically – or ‘sexually’ – with Depp when they both starred in the 1998 cult classic ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, testified that he had thrown a bottle of wine at her during their relationship.
Barkin, 68, said the actor was arguing with friends in a hotel room when he threw the object. She also reiterated Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard’s claim that he was a “jealous man”.
“Controlling” is how Barkin described Depp. “Asking me, ‘Where are you going? Who are you meeting? »
Another time, “I got a scratch on my back which once made him very, very angry because he insisted it was because I had sex with a nobody who wasn’t him,” she said in the deposition, recorded in 2019 and played for jurors in the Virginia trial on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Depp’s former agent Tracey Jacobs says his professional reputation took a hit when he started showing up late to projects due to drugs and alcohol, including the production of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”.
“Crews don’t like to sit for hours and hours for the star to show up,” Jacobs said. “People talked…and it made people reluctant to use it.”
His former business manager, Joel Mandel, echoed Jacobs’ claims, saying Depp’s drinking habits became “alarming” in 2011 and he spent thousands of dollars on prescription drugs.
The negative assertions are among the first the public has heard about Depp in this lawsuit — aside from those made by Heard and his team, of course — but have his former co-stars ever criticized his professionalism?
Here’s what other co-stars have said about working with Depp:
Eva Green
Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” co-star Eva Green has publicly supported the actor on Instagram throughout his ongoing legal battle.
“I have no doubt that Johnny will emerge with his wonderful name and heart revealed to the world, and life will be better than ever for him and his family,” the 41-year-old French actress wrote after Thursday’s explosive testimony.
Orlando Bloom
Orlando Bloom told the BBC that working with Depp during “The Curse of the Black Pearl” in 2003 was the most fun he had ever had,
“I got to work with one of my heroes, Johnny Depp, and see how he handles business, which really inspired me at this point in my career,” Bloom, 45, said.
He also praised Depp’s dedication to his craft: “I knew he would bring something unique as he always does with his roles. I just didn’t know what it would be when I saw it, it was fantastic.
winona ryder
Depp and Winona Ryder, 50, were co-stars in Tim Burton’s ‘Edward Scissorhands’ in 1990, and got engaged five months after dating during that time.
“I can only speak from my own experience – which was very different from what is being said,” Ryder said. Weather in June 2016 after Heard’s allegations made headlines. “He was never, ever like that with me. Never abusive to me at all. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who’s very, very protective of the people he loves.
The double Oscar nominee and ‘Stranger Things’ star also provided a witness statement in the Depp-Heard UK trial in 2020: “I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience as I don’t obviously wasn’t there during his marriage to Amber,” Ryder wrote. “But, in my experience, which was so different, I was absolutely shocked, confused, and upset when I heard the accusations against him. “
Kevin McNally
Depp’s “Pirates” co-star Kevin McNally had nothing bad to say about the actor in a 2021 interview with LADbible.
“I never saw a hint of a dark side in Johnny,” he said. “I see a great humanitarian and a beautiful human being. I see no obstacle for him to come back and play Jack Sparrow.
That, of course, isn’t going to happen, as the hit franchise’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, 78, has announced Depp won’t be returning, at least “not at this point.”
Keira Knightley
Another “Pirates” alum, Keira Knightley, told IGN in 2003 that actors could hardly walk through scenes without laughing.
” He is simply great. It’s really weird, because he’s a big Hollywood star, but he’s such a nice guy,” she said. “We would be at the craft services wagon and he would make a cup of tea and we would chat and laugh and then make a scene. He’s just really, really, really adorable.
The two-time Oscar nominee continued, “He’s one of the only actors right now taking these huge risks, and it was a risk. He has the balls to play a role like that, and I think that’s great.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie loved her time alongside Depp in 2010’s “The Tourist.”
“He’s just such a nice guy. He’s so funny and so much fun to hang out with,” Jolie, 46, said during a press conference for the film at the time.
“It’s not just someone having fun [movies]; he’s a real experimental artist, deeply sensitive, gives a lot and is very kind on set to everyone and to his fellow actors. It’s just a pleasure.
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway and Depp worked together in Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’, and the Oscar-winning ‘Les Miserables’ actor praised the down-to-earth demeanor Depp’s land.
“He’s got such a mystique about him that I feel like his fans and the media put him on,” she said in 2010. “And he’s as real a person as you can get. He’s, I think, exactly what he would be if none of that fame had happened to him.
“I admire that so much – it’s not just that it didn’t go to his head, but it didn’t change him one iota, and I think that’s remarkable.”
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb was just 9 years old when she started filming in 2005 for Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” alongside Depp.
“He’s really, really down to earth and he treats everyone with equal respect,” she said of Depp at the time. “He invited you into his trailer and talks to you and makes jokes. Simple little things that make you feel comfortable and not “Oh my God, it’s Johnny Depp”. It’s just like, ‘Oh, it’s Johnny.’
Penelope Cruz
Actress Penélope Cruz was eager to work with Depp again when she joined the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
“I’ve missed working with him all these years because we had such a great experience when we were filming ‘Blow,'” Cruz told Access Hollywood via Digital Spy of their 2001 collaboration.
Like Knightley, Cruz said Depp made him laugh.
“Our problem is that we can’t stop laughing,” the Oscar-winning actor continued. “It can really become a problem sometimes with us because some days we couldn’t control ourselves. I always say it’s a good problem to have because ultimately it will affect the chemistry of [our] characters.”
Kaya Scodelario
Brazilian ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actress Kaya Scodelario has opened up about how Depp helped her get into the role.
“We were just lying on a green screen and having to pretend to fall,” she told the Evening Standard in 2017. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I looked over to him and as soon as they said ‘action’ he was completely engaged, he didn’t care if it made him silly or weird or weird,” she gushed. “It inspired me to let go and get out of my mind.”
Juliet Lewis
Juliette Lewis and Depp starred together alongside Leonardo DiCapro in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” in 1993.
“Johnny stoops. Is that the right word? Either way, he’s too self-demeaning at times,” Lewis described to the LA Times in 1993. Merriam-Webster defines the phrase as “the act or the process of lowering one’s status, esteem, quality or character”.
