Recently, Johnny Depp and his private life have been in the news due to the defamation case he was involved in against his ex-wife Amber Heard. But before the incident and the 84 movies in which he has appeared, the actor was a high school dropout who was seeking to break into the music business. We now recognize Depp as Jack Sparrow from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, among many other beloved characters he has played.
Depp is an American actor, producer, and musician who was born on June 9, 1963. In addition to being nominated for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards, he has won other honors, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. But, did you know his first job involved fake names and had nothing to do with acting?
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Johnny Depp Talks About His “Awful” First Job
Johnny Depp grew up in a chaotic household. Because of his father’s work as a civil engineer, they frequently moved. While his dad was between jobs, they spent almost a year living in a motel in Miramar, Florida, when he was seven years old. His mother, a waitress, was violent toward him and his brothers as well as his father. Depp started smoking and using drugs at the age of 12. He quit high school at the age of 16 and formed The Kids, a garage band. The group showed some promise. They served as the opening act for Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Pretenders, and Ramones, but they weren’t making any money though. In the end, they had no other option but to disband.
Only 20 years old at the time, Depp married Lori Allison, a cosmetics artist, in 1983. The same year, they made the journey to Los Angeles with the kids still aspiring for stardom. Even selling pens for a telemarketing company helped them pay for their aspirations. He told Interview magazine, “I marketed pens—on the phone. But the beauty of the gig was that you had to call these strangers and say, “Hi, how ya doing?” You made up a name, like, “Hey, it’s Edward Quartermaine from California. You’re eligible to receive this grandfather clock or a trip to Tahiti. You promise them all these things if they buy a gross of pens. It was just awful. But I actually think that was the first experience I had with acting.” After a year, however, his career was turned into acting due to his introduction to Nicolas Cage by his then-wife. Depp got a part as an extra in the 1984 horror film ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ thanks to the ‘Con Air’ actor’s introduction to a Hollywood agency.
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What’s Next In Johnny Depp’s Career After The Amber Heard Trial?
For Johnny Depp, everything seems to be going well. The actor has collaborated with Jeff Beck, inked a seven-figure Dior contract, will play King Louis XV in a forthcoming film, and is now directing for the first time in more than 20 years. The recent accords, which come only weeks after Depp’s defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard ended, are a clear indication that Depp’s career is on the rise once again. According to Evan Nierman, CEO of global PR firm Red Banyan and author of ‘Crisis Averted’, Depp’s return to the big screen is the newest indication that his profession is “fully back in action,” and it is “highly unlikely” that Depp would have been unemployed.
After filing lawsuits alleging defamation against one another, Depp and Heard engaged in a prolonged legal dispute. In a Washington Post op-ed where she claimed to have survived domestic abuse, Depp accused Heard of defaming him; Heard later filed a lawsuit against Depp after his agents called Heard’s claims against him a ‘hoax’. Although a jury found both parties responsible for defamation during the trial, which attracted attention from across the world, Depp received substantially higher damages.
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