Johnny Depp Defends Using An Earpiece To Act, Having Someone Feed Him Lines ‘Allows Him To Act With Eyes’
Johnny Depp confirmed rumors that he wears an earpiece while acting in an interview with Rolling Stone so he is able to act “with his eyes” in the style of the great silent movie film legends and defended the practice despite drawing criticism for it.
According to a lawsuit filed by Depp, The Management Group, run by his longtime business manager Joel Mandel and his brother Robert, are being sued by the actor for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud, according to Rolling Stone. The magazine reported that TMG has filed a countersuit complaining, among other things, that “Depp has a $2-million-a-month compulsory-spending disorder,” according to the article.
One of their charges against the actor which reportedly shows off his excessive spending habits includes keeping a sound engineer on the payroll so he could feed Depp lines through an earpiece while filming.
Depp confirmed this longstanding industry rumor to Rolling Stone, stating that there are sounds fed to him to help him portray the characters he embodies in his film roles. He said to Rolling Stone that the sounds fed to him made him “act with just his eyes.”
“I’ve got bagpipes, a baby crying and bombs going off,” said Depp. “It creates a truth. Some of my biggest heroes were in silent film. It had to be behind the eyes. And my feeling is, that if there’s no truth behind the eyes, doesn’t matter what the [expletive] words are.”
The Trouble With Johnny Depp: Lawsuits, a haze of booze and hash, a marriage gone very wrong and a lifestyle he can't afford https://t.co/7J9wz8g7gV
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) June 25, 2018
This industry rumor about Depp’s acting practice has been around for quite some time. Vulture reported that Kirsten Dunst revealed this particular quirk of the actor’s back in 2008.
“He has an earbud. That’s why he’s so great,” Dunst remarked to Vulture. “I don’t know if he does it on every project, but I know he does.”
When asked how Depp concealed the earbud she revealed, “Maybe his hair’s covering it? I don’t know, but I know he does it.”
Also explained in the Rolling Stone interview was Depp’s downward spiral after his heartbreaking divorce from Amber Heard, who accused him of battery and filed for divorce on the eve of his mother Betty Sue Palmer’s funeral on May 20, 2016. Heard received a $7 million dollar settlement and signed a non-disclosure agreement after the couple’s split. She later donated the settlement to charity.
Depp maintained a journal during this dark period of time, stating to Rolling Stone, “I poured myself a vodka in the morning and started writing until the tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t see the page anymore. I kept trying to figure out what I’d done to deserve this. I’d tried being kind to everyone, helping everyone, being truthful to everyone. The truth is most important to me. And all this still happened.”
