Johnny Depp has been making headlines with his comments about actors turning rock stars, then forming supergroup Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry. Is he being hypocritical, or could the actor be ready to give up acting altogether to pursue his original dream of music?
Johnny Depp used to be one of the surest bets at the box office with his Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and his collaborations with Tim Burton. But lately, the actor has had a series of box office bombs with films such as The Lone Ranger , Dark Shadows , Transcendence , and his latest, Mortdecai . While Depp has committed to another Pirates movie, could the actor be considering retirement from acting before his box office value hits rock bottom?
Another possible reason Depp might want to back off from his acting career or give it up altogether is to allow his new wife, Amber Heard, to bask in the acting spotlight instead of trying to step out of his shadow. That still doesn’t explain Depp saying actors who turn rock stars are “lame,” then turning around and forming a rock band. Could it be that Johnny Depp considers himself a musician who became an actor?
As Stereogum reported, Depp dropped out of high school to join up with a band called Kids in South Florida, before they moved to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams of rock stardom. They changed their name to Six Gun Method, but the fame never came. Depp also worked with punk band Rock City Angels before landing his breakout role on 21 Jump Street and going on to his iconic acting career.
Music went on the back burner after that, although Depp has collaborated with many musicians over the years. Some of his musical partnerships include Oasis, ZZ Top, Keith Richards, Marilyn Manson, Shane McGowan of The Pogues, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Lemonheads, and his first supergroup, P, featuring members of the Sex Pistols, Butthole Surfers, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Depp’s love of music clearly continues, although he rarely comments on it publicly, with the following exception.
“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.”
Given acting is all about words, if Depp had to choose between acting or music, it’s a safe bet he’d pursue the latter.
Do you think it’s possible Johnny Depp is winding down his acting career to pursue music again and finally make it as a rock star? Or do you think Depp simply considers himself a musician first and wasn’t being a hypocrite with his harsh criticism of actors turned musicians?
[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]
