Depp Is Back, and His Fury at Some in Hollywood Is Clear

Once Hollywood's ultimate outsider, Johnny Depp insists he never left the spotlight—despite headlines about a "comeback." But as Jonathan Dean writes in a lengthy piece for the Times of London, Depp is about to "head out into the world again." He made his first major studio return with Day Drinker (out in 2026); Modi, a film he directed about the Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani, will be released in July. In a wide-ranging piece, Dean touches on what the men drank during their interview (Aperol, Depp-branded rum, red wine); Depp's preference for the "company of musicians"; and his fond memories of his time as "Papa" raising his two kids in the south of France—"the only place that ever felt like home."

But the two also delve into the public airing of his tumultuous relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard—including two libel trials in London and Virginia that saw plenty of "dirty laundry" aired—and why Depp felt compelled to bring the cases. "I knew I'd have to semi-eviscerate myself," he says. "Everyone was saying, 'It'll go away!' But I can't trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f---ing globe? No it won't." Dean allows that had Depp not won the second case, "it is unlikely he would be having this revival." Dean notes that "while talking about Heard [Depp] is imprecise; when it comes to the film industry he is clear and evidently furious about the Hollywood power-players who jumped off what they considered a sinking ship." Some key lines getting notice:

• "I'll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids' parties. Throwing them in the air. And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice. I was pre-MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein. And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I've met in that industry to see who was playing it safe. Better go woke!"

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