One of the most enigmatic actors out there, Johnny Depp had a somewhat modest start as a regular on the TV series “21 Jump Street,” Depp has put together a remarkably diverse collection of film roles, most of which have one thing in common — he is drawn to playing outcasts or people who are on the edges of society who go their own way — and going his own way is certainly something that’s been a hallmark of this much-awarded actor’s career.
In Depp’s almost four-decade (beginning with 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street”), he has earned a remarkable 10 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning the Best Actor prize for the 2007 musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” That film also garnered Depp his third Academy Award nomination (along with 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and 2004’s “Finding Neverland”). Depp has also been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards (winning for “Pirates of the Caribbean”) and two BAFTA Awards as Best Actor.
He has worked many times with director Tim Burton, including strong roles in “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Sweeney Todd.”
Tour our photo gallery featuring all of these films in a round-up of his 12 greatest screen performances ranked worst to best.
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12. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: Tim Burton. Writer: Linda Woolverton. Starring Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter.
Although young Mia Wasikowska has the title role of this Tim Burton-directed spectacular, all eyes, however, turn toward the appearance of Depp as the maddest of Mad Hatters. With his bright orange hair and oversized top hat, Depp’s Hatter is a walking embodiment of Tim Burton’s films. Still, Depp takes time to show the tender side of the Hatter — in his scenes with Alice, he forges a bond with her, recognizing perhaps that they are both outsiders in this strange wonderland. Depp’s performance brought him his tenth Golden Globe nomination.
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11. PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009)
Image Credit: Forward Pass/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Michael Mann. Writers: Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann. Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard.
Legendary gangster John Dillinger provides Depp with a big canvas on which to play in Michael Mann’s crime saga depicting the final years in the life of bank robber extraordinaire Dillinger and his dogged pursuer FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). Depp’s take on the role was that of Dillinger-as-rock-star, as a man who wasn’t beholden to any authority, an image that was very appealing to a public devastated by the effects of the Great Depression. The way he carries himself as Dillinger, plus the fact that he’s always on the run, requires a physicality to Deep’s performance that he more than provides.
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10. INTO THE WOODS (2014)
Image Credit: Disney/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Rob Marshall. Writer: James Lapine, based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine. Starring Emily Blunt, James Corden, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp.
In his second Stephen Sondheim musical, Depp lands the plum role of The Big Bad Wolf, who uses all of his seductive powers to lure Little Red Riding Hood to her grandmother’s house so that the wolf can have a tasty meal. But what Depp does in the wolf’s signature song “Hello, Little Girl” is to perform it with a distinct sexual overtone that, given the young age of Little Red Riding Hood, turns the creepy-meter up to 11. But it does give “Into the Woods” an adult jolt, which only helps the film to distinguish itself from the usual Disney kiddie fare.
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9. BLACK MASS (2015)
Image Credit: Warner Bros./Cross Creek/Gri/REX/Shutterstock Director: Scott Cooper. Writers: Jez Butterworth, Mark Mallouk. Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Corey Stoll.
Depp received his third SAG Best Actor nomination for his performance as famed South Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. While superb prosthetic makeup allowed Depp to disappear into the persona of Whitey, it is the actor’s interior performance that is the most gripping, keeping much of his rage buried under a serene facade until it explodes in violent outbursts. Although Depp’s Whitey is always front-and-center, “Black Mass” is always an ensemble piece and Depp’s character work here allows him blend in smoothly with his fellow actors. This is one of Depp’s best later-career performances, and, for his performance as Whitey, he earned his third Screen Actors Guild nomination.
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8. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FAMILY (2005)
Image Credit: Peter Mountain/Warner Bros./REX/Shutterstock Director: Tim Burton. Writer: John August, based on the novel by Roald Dahl. Starring Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, Helena Bonham-Carter.
This Tim Burton version of the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book is much darker and therefore closer to the tone of Dahl’s book than the 1971 Gene Wilder “Willy Wonka” classic. And if you’re looking for a dark Willy Wonka, Depp is your man. Yes, his candy mogul is flamboyantly larger-than-life, but Depp makes it clear that his Willy Wonka has been hurt in his past, and being the beloved Candy Man is his way of trying to cope with that. For his performance as Willy, Depp received his sixth Best Actor nomination from the Golden Globes.
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7. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2002)
Image Credit: Leah Gallo/Dreamworks Pictures/Warner Bros/REX/Shutterstock Director: Tim Burton. Writer: John Logan, based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler. Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman.
Depp’s first foray into the world of musical theatre composer Stephen Sondheim proved to be a very beneficial one — Depp won the Golden Globe for his performance as Sweeney Todd and received Oscar and SAG nominations as well. Sweeney is one of the darkest roles any actor can play as a vengeful barber slits the throats of his enemies and provides the filling to his partner’s lucrative meat pie business, all to the thrilling songs of Sondheim. One of Depp’s very best performances.
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6. ED WOOD (1994)
Image Credit: Touchstone/REX/Shutterstock Director: Tim Burton. Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski. Starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette.
Depp teamed up with director Tim Burton once again for this truly one of a kind project — a black-and-white biography of Ed Wood, a transvestite whom many consider “the worst director in history.” (Ironically, the film wound up at The Walt Disney Company.) For all of the disappointments in Wood’s life, Depp brought to the character a Capra-esque kind of sunny outlook at his lot in life, though suggesting that Wood might harbor a slight doubt of that himself. For his performance, Depp received his fourth Golden Globe nomination.
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5. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Tim Burton. Writer: Caroline Thompson. Starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Vincent Price.
Depp received his first Golden Globe nomination for his performance as Edward, a creation of The Inventor (Vincent Price) who gave the artificial young man scissors instead of hands. In the first of a career-long number of film collaborations with director Tim Burton, Depp gives Edward a remarkable capacity for empathy even if the strange young man is not sure of his surroundings — the home of a suburban family with a beautiful daughter (Winona Ryder) with whom Edward falls in love. In the many films that Depp and Burton create in later years, none has been quite as sweet as Edward Scissorhands.
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4. FINDING NEVERLAND (2004)
Image Credit: Film Colony/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Marc Forster. Writer: David Magee. Starring Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie.
Filmgoers who went into “Finding Neverland” expecting another adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan” were probably surprised to find a film focusing on Barrie himself and how he came to write the beloved children’s favorite. An actor with a deserved reputation for large performances, Depp’s portrayal of Barrie is uncharacteristically restrained, with many critics noting just how spot on the tone was in capturing Barrie. The industry agreed, with Depp receiving nominations for Best Actor for the Oscars, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild.
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3. WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Lasse Hallström. Writer: Peter Hedges, based on his novel. Starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Leonardo DiCaprio.
“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” was surely a change-of-pace for Depp — a straight drama set in a small Iowa town in which Depp serves as caretaker to his morbidly obese mother Bonnie (Darlene Case) and his mentally challenged younger brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Depp’s performance is the vibrant heart and soul of “Gilbert Grape,” and the chemistry between Depp and DiCaprio in particular is especially convincing, persuading audience that Gilbert and Arnir are truly brothers.
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2. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2017)
Image Credit: Disney/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Writers/Directors: Various. Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush. Writers/Directors: Various.
Depp captured lightning-in-a-bottle with his decision to model his pirate Jack Sparrow after the out-there rock icon Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Depp’s bold approach reportedly caused some Disney executives to be aghast when they viewed the dailies, with some wanting to shut down production compleely, convinced it was going to be a flop. A flop it certainly was not, and the center of what is now a five-film franchise is Depp’s now-iconic pirate. For the first “Pirates” film, “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Depp won the Best Actor award from the Screen Actors Guild and earned nominations for the Oscar and the Golden Globe, and for Pirates 2, 2006’s “Dead Man’s Chest” garnered Depp his seventh Golden Globe nomination.
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1. DONNIE BRASCO (1997)
Image Credit: Mandalay/Baltimore/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Mike Newell. Writer: Paul Attanasio. Starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen.
With several quirky films under his belt, Depp made an abrupt change of image in this true story of young FBI agent Joseph Pistone (Depp) who goes undercover as “The Jewel Man,” Donnie Brasco. Donnie soon finds himself embedded deep in the Bonanno crime family and becoming the protege of aging gangster Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). “Donnie Brasco” did a lot for Depp’s rising career — it not only proved that Depp, who had been known primarily for arty kinds of films, could work in a genre film and answered the questions as to whether he could keep up with the big guys, and few are bigger than Al Pacino.
