Johnny Depp always manages to expertly skirt that fine line between keeping his private life close to his manly chest while remaining a massive star beloved by the public. Depp recently said that after he gave some sort-of revealing interviews about his family a few years ago he was schooled by Marlon Brando to not reveal much about his private life, whose advice he took to heart.

There were two sets of photos of Depp and his family that came out from the same agency recently that made me shake my head. One was of Johnny’s partner, Vanessa Paradis, at Disney Land with their two children, Lilly Rose, 8, and Jack, 5. Paradis looked mighty annoyed that photographers were taking pictures of her children, and Johnny has made it clear that his children are off limits and that he will confront any photographer that takes photos of them. It’s a good thing he wasn’t there. Another set was of Johnny confronting paparazzi after they followed him around LA while he was scouting locations for a film.

If Johnny Depp says he doesn’t want his children’s photos taken, we will not publish them. If he’s pissed at the paparazzi and thinks they’re out of line, we won’t publish those photos either. Other stars can make demands, but nothing quite elicits a response like a request from moderately-humble and almost always gracious Depp.

Depp gave a general but very glowing interview in the latest In Touch about his family. He just sounds like a great dad and protective of his children and family:

Q: You’re such a famous actor — how important is your family in keeping you grounded?
A: My family is my sanctuary. I live for them. I finally found a reason to exist in this world. There’s nothing like it. I would give away everything if I could only keep my family. They have given me life, and they’re the greatest gift in the world. ”

Q: How do you keep your romance with Vanessa so strong?
A: I think trust is the most important thing in a relationship, along with the ability to communicate honestly with each other. Once communication stops, that waylays danger.

Q: You and Vanessa never married — do you think you will at some point?
A: We have considered ourselves husband and wife since the day we moved in together. We just haven’t gone through the formality.

Q: How do you feel about having to raise your children in today’s uncertain world?
A: As a parent, my job, besides giving them love and education, is to protect them by not allowing the harsh realities and difficulties of our world into theirs. You’ve got these pure, innocent little things, and all they want is love and happiness.

Q: You move around with your family a lot, having lived in LA and France. Have you always been such a free spirit?
A: Yes. It has to do with my upbringing. I don’t like to be stuck in one place for too long. We were total nomads when I was growing up. We traveled around all the time. It’s ingrained in my being. I think it’s good for kids to get out there and see the world.

Q: You’ve been working a lot lately. What would be your dream vacation?
A: Running around on the beach with the kids and taking them out on the boat. I want to take them swimming with dolphins, though hopefully not with sharks!

[From In Touch, print edition, via Taylors’ Entertainment News]

So somehow Johnny always confirms what people think about him, and reveals just enough to let us into his world without ruining the mystery. Unlike other celebrities, we rarely know when and where he goes on vacation and especially not his daily whereabouts. Matt Damon is another A-list actor who has managed to keep his family life under wraps in this era of digital and instantaneous news. Damon has said that we didn’t get every last detail on the Hollywood greats of decades past, and we don’t need that kind of news about his generation, either.

We wouldn’t have much to talk about if we weren’t privy to all this private and often-fabricated information about the celebrities, but there’s also a gender bias in the news, as Helen covered a couple of days ago. Male celebrities who have non-famous partners seem to have an advantage in that the tabloids don’t pick them apart like they do female celebrities.

Johnny Depp is seen at the Sweeney Todd premiere in Paris on 1/16/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

When I first read this story I thought it must have been something cooked up by a journalist with an overactive imagination, and it very well might be, but movie site Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the director of the film Heath Ledger left unfinished when he died, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, has three big names in mind to take over for his character. Since the film is a fantasy in which Ledger’s character could easily change into someone else, all three replacement actors may pay tribute to Heath with performances:

Have I mentioned how much I love this idea? Because I do. I think it’s beautiful that the script loaned itself to this sort of idea, that we’re going to see Heath Ledger’s work in Terry Gilliam’s new film, and that we’re also going to see three very interesting actors step up to offer interpretations of him as a way of paying one final tribute to this actor whose career was cut so sadly short.

We’ve heard rumors about who might be stepping in, but now we’ve got the names verified. Count on it.

JOHNNY DEPP.

JUDE LAW.

COLIN FARRELL.

Nice choices, Gilliam. Can’t wait to see what happens inside the IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS, and I’d love to get a look at the script they’re going to use as they start this next stretch of shooting on the film.

[From Ain’t It Cool News]

Ain’t It Cool News has a good reputation for getting insider information on films and this could be true. About three weeks ago unreliable British source The Sun wrote that Imaginarium director Terry Gilliam wanted Johnny Depp to take over Heath’s part. There’s a scene in which Heath’s character falls through a magic mirror, and Cinematical quotes a studio source as saying “He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in.”

Back when that story came out, the movie was in shutdown mode following the death of Ledger, and workers on the film thought it wouldn’t come back. The star of the film, Christopher Plummer, has said that Heath’s final scenes would be created using CGI imagery, and he did suggest that other actors would be used. He is quoted as saying that “Because the film deals with magic, there is a way of turning Heath into other people, and then use stills and computer generated imagery.”

Maybe Heath’s character will get turned into three other top actors. It’s exciting to think that Depp, Law and Farrell might play in this film. I bet Daniel Day Lewis would be happy to be involved too, as he dedicated his SAG Award to Heath and seemed to be very affected by his death.

The evocative header image was created by /film.

In March of ‘07 Johnny Depp’s seven-year-old daughter Lily-Rose was rushed to hospital with E.coli blood poisoning, and stayed for nine days before she made a full recovery. Johnny Depp has spoken of her illness, telling Entertainment Weekly “To say it was the darkest moment, that’s nothing.” He also said every milli-second of having his daughter well was like a celebration. Now he’s truly celebrated with the staff who took care of her at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

He arrived unexpectedly (yesterday) at the London children’s hospital where eight-year-old Lily-Rose was treated last year when her kidneys failed.

Last week he invited five Great Ormond Street doctors and nurses to the party for the London premiere of his film Sweeney Todd.

And on November 29, unknown to the public, Depp spent four hours at the hospital telling bedtime stories to patients dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow after having his Pirates Of The Caribbean costume flown over from Los Angeles.

The Daily Mail

The newspaper also adds that he Johnny Depp and partner Vanessa Paradis donated £1 million pounds to the hospital, which needs to raise £170 million over five years to redevelop the hospital site. Disney, makers of Pirates of the Carribbean, also donated £10 million.

Now, the Daily Mail isn’t always the most reliable source, but I think that making a generous thanks to the people who saved your child’s life is something that any parent would do, just not all of them could afford to be so generous. But I think if you could afford £1 million then you would give it, because what price is your child’s health?

The donation, coupled with Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack appearance, just makes him all the more appealing. Swoon. So appealing that when he recently purchased a penthouse apartment in a building that wasn’t selling well, just news of his investment sent demand for other apartments in the same complex through the roof. And who wouldn’t want to live under the same roof as Johnny Depp?

Johnny last night at the Golden Globes (the less-than-glamorous night that it was) won a Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. He will be receiving his award in the mail.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Johnny Depp is shown at the UK premiere of Sweeney Todd on 1/10/08, thanks to PRPhotos and WENN.

Johnny Depp spotted 84 year-old sitcom actress Rose Marie, who played Sally Rogers on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” at a screening of Sweeney Todd. He went right over to the surprised older woman and started telling her what a great actress she is and how he watched every episode of her show when he was a boy. He spent about ten minutes talking to her, and she was thrilled:

At an exclusive screening of his movie, Sweeney Todd, the actor ditched bigwig pals Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and director Tim Burton to make a beeline for his idol… 84 year-old sitcom actress Rose Marie.

The comedian - best known as the perennial bachelorette in the 1960s series “The Dick Van Dyke Show” - is a supreme master of her craft, according to Depp.

“Johnny totally freaked when he saw Rose Marie,” a source told The Enquirer. “He hurried toward her and gave her a hug.”

“He told her he grew up watching her, that he’s seen every episode - and that he is her greatest fan.

“Rose Marie seemed incredible flattered, and Johnny made it clear he recognized her as an immense talent.

“They talked for about 10 minutes, and Johnny told her over and over how thrilled he was to meet her…

“Rose Marie got a thrill out of being praised by Johnny, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars,” said the source, “and she certainly deserves it.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 21, 2008]

I love that story! The best thing about it that Johnny probably was really excited to see Rose Marie after watching her show while he was growing up. He seems like such a genuine and kind person, and that’s so nice to hear.

Johnny wore a hot-looking black sparkly throwback suit with a wide collar to the UK premiere of Sweeney Todd last night. The Sun made fun of his attire, but I think he looks great and as one commentor on the article wrote: “Johnny Depp could wear a bin liner and still look better than 90% of men you see on the red carpet.” I love his original way of dressing as well as his very original and kind personality.

Thanks to PRPhotos and WENN for these pictures.

Johnny Depp has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine six times, and his latest cover is the sexiest. He’s shown with his shirt half open and a serious look on his face. A tattoo with his daughter’s name “Lily Rose” is visible just over his heart. (It’s not a new one, and he also has his mother’s name “Betty Sue” in a heart on the outside of his left bicep, and a sparrow flying over water with the his son’s name “Jack” on his right forearm. A tattoo on his upper right arm that said “Winona Forever” for his then-fiancé Winona Ryder has been changed to “Wino Forever.” Here’s a link to more information about his tattoos, but I digress.)

Inside Rolling Stone Johnny talks about his drug use and jokes around with the interviewer. He quipped about the pope’s gender getting checked by an elderly church member who “waddles up to you and reaches under your dress.” As for his wild youth, he said that “I’m a dumb-ass, and I poisoned myself for years. Now I understand things better.”

The interview with Depp available online at Rolling Stone just includes the part where he talks about his musical influences, though, and only gives those brief quotes as hints of the other topics that were touched on in the interview. We’ll have to see if he gets any more revealing in the interview once it’s out.

Johnny talked about how he learned to play guitar, and said he’s ashamed to say he stole a music book from a store in order to learn to play chords. He also spoke about how great it was to jam out when he was a teen.

How did listening to music become making music?

When I was twelve, I talked my mom into picking up a Decca electric guitar for me for twenty-five dollars. It had a little blue plush amp. And then, this is horrible, the first thing I did was steal a Mel Bay chord book. I went to this store, stuffed it down my pants and walked out. It had pictures — that’s why I needed it so badly, because it was immediate gratification. If I could match those photographs, then I was golden. I conquered it in days. I locked the bedroom door, didn’t leave, and taught myself how to play chords. I started learning songs by ear.

What was the first song you could play through?

Every kid with a guitar at that time, the first things that came up were almost always “Smoke on the Water,” obviously, and “25 or 6 to 4,” by Chicago. But the first song I played all the way through must have been “Stairway to Heaven.” I remember getting through the fingerpicking and just cursing Jimmy Page.

What was your first band?

When I was about thirteen, I got together with some other kids in the neighborhood. This one guy had a bass, we knew a guy who had a PA system, we made our own lights. It was really ramshackle and great. We’d play at people’s backyard parties. Everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Cheap Trick to Devo — and “Johnny B. Goode” was the closer.

You’ve got that wistful look in your eyes.

You’re thirteen years old and you’re playing rock & roll. Loud. Poorly. But somebody’s letting you do it in their back yard. And it was absolute perfection. It was freedom. Right off the bat, there was no question: I had found my future.

[From RollingStone.com]

The article notes that Depp’s critically acclaimed performance in Sweeney Todd is the first time he’s sung on screen. When he starred in Cry Baby seventeen years ago his singing was dubbed over.

Depp’s singing in Sweeney Todd has been praised. The NY Times‘ A.O. Scott said “Mr. Depp’s singing voice is… amazingly forceful. He brings the unpolished urgency of rock ’n’ roll to an idiom accustomed to more refinement, and in doing so awakens the violence of Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics and melodies.” Sweeney Todd has been out three weeks and is ninth at the box office. The dark subject matter and violence in the film may have deterred movie-goers despite incredible reviews. Hopefully Sweeney Todd will be a top seller when it hits the DVD market.

All pictures thanks to RollingStone.com

This week’s In Touch reports that Johnny Depp gave Sacha Baron Cohen a pregnancy book as a present while the two were in NY in early December promoting their new soon-to-be-blockbuster film Sweeney Todd. Baron Cohen and his fiance Isla Fischer’s baby daughter Olive was already a month old at that point so the book wasn’t really practical. Depp seems to have realized this, since the book was titled “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy.”

“The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy” was first published in 1995, and Depp’s girlfriend Vanessa Paradis had her first child, Lily-Rose, in 1999, making it likely that the book was a re-gift.

Baron Cohen plays a flaming hairdresser in dark musical Sweeney Todd, which is out in US theaters this Friday. The costume designer for the film reports that his manhood was enhanced by quilted material after a lot of trial and error to get the most natural look.

Johnny Depp recently revealed part of the reason why he’s so secretive about his privacy. He said that screen legend Marlon Brando called him up after he gushed about his children in an interview and told him that his private life was not public entertainment. In Johnny Depp’s case, he’s all the quirky entertainment we need, and that’s sure to be confirmed yet again once Sweeney Todd is out.

Johnny Depp and Sacha Baron Cohen are shown at the Sweeney Todd premiere on 12/3/07.

I love lists, especially lists of people. Any type of ranking system that lets me quickly know who to love and who to hate is aces with me. Every year, Autograph magazine releases a list of the best and worst celebrities for autograph signers. Johnny Depp has been number one for the past three years, so that’s not really surprising. What is surprising is that Will Ferrell is at the top of the worst list. Apparently he mocks people and embarrasses them when they ask for autographs, though the article wasn’t specific. He always seemed like such a nice guy to me – not like Cameron Diaz, who was at the top of the worst list for years. She used to bitch people out when they asked for autographs – and there were several reports of her telling people to f*** off over the years.

Johnny Depp, take a bow. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star who turns menacing in his new role as murderous barber Sweeney Todd, has been named the best celebrity autograph signer for the third year running. “It’s the third consecutive year Depp has topped the list of the 10 best signers. Whether at a premier, in a restaurant or on location, Depp may just be the best Hollywood autograph signer of all time,” Steve Cyrkin, the magazine’s editor and publisher, said in a statement.

And the worst? Comedian Will Ferrell and Tobey Maguire. The list does change from year to year as stars mellow and start to make time for their fans. For example Australian actor Russell Crowe, who has made newspaper headlines for his bad-boy behavior including pleading guilty in 2005 for throwing a faulty telephone at a hotel concierge moved from number 10 on the 2006 worst list to number 10 on the 2007 best list. “He may still be a bit grumpy at times, but now he signs pretty much anytime someone asks,” said Cyrkin.

“What’s so frustrating about Will Ferrell being the worst autograph signer this past year is that he used to be so nice to fans and collectors, and a great signer. What makes him so bad is that he’ll taunt people asking for his autograph.”

[From Yahoo! News]

To be fair, I get really annoyed when people ask me for my autograph too. It’s like, “Look, I’m just at the grocery store trying to get my grapefruit like everyone else. You want me to do what?” And when the lady said something about signing my credit card receipt so they could charge me, I told her to go to hell, she wasn’t getting my autograph if she was going to be a bitch about it. And as the police were leading me away, my only clear thought was, “Shit, now Autograph magazine is really going to have a beef with me.”

My easily-influenced self really doesn’t like Will Ferrell anymore. Joking aside, I’m sure it’s annoying to get asked for autographs, but isn’t that the first thing you think about in terms of the infamous “price of fame?” Even before swarms of paparazzi, I think of people hounding you for your autograph. I thought a lot of people fantasized about that before they were famous. Annoying as it probably is, to me it just says that you’re ungrateful if you won’t do it. That said, I will keep a taser with me at all times when I become famous. No way am I dealing with that shit.

Here’s the rest of the list. Alter your judgments of celebrities appropriately.

The Best

1. Johnny Depp

2. Matt Damon

3. George Clooney

4. Jack Nicholson

5. Rosario Dawson

6. John Travolta

7. Katherine Heigl

8. Jay Leno

9. Dakota Fanning

10. Russell Crowe

The Worst

1. Will Ferrell

2. Tobey Maguire

3. Joaquin Phoenix

4. William Shatner

5. Renee Zellweger

6. John Malkovich

7. Julie Andrews

8. Bruce Willis

9. Terri Hatcher

10. Scarlett Johansson

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Will Ferrell at the “Dewey Cox” premiere on December 12th. Images thanks to PR Photos. Header image of Johnny at a special screening of ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ held at the Paramount Pictures Studios on December 5th. Images thanks to WENN.

Julia Roberts is trying to get her career back on track and isn’t above sending personal gifts to top stars she wants as costars. She hand knitted sweaters for Johnny Depp’s two children, Lily-Rose, 8, and Jack, 5, and sent them along with a note that read “I would love to work with you.” Maybe she should have written “Have a great holiday,” or something, because when you send a gift like that isn’t it obvious that you’re trying to get in the person’s good graces for some reason? I don’t know, I usually go for the indirect approach, like talking about other stuff and hoping they get the hint.

Julia Roberts is laying it on thick with Johnny Depp in a bid to revive her career. Noted knitter Julia knocked out sweaters for Johnny’s kids… sending them with a note saying “I would love to work with you.” Julia doesn’t like being knocked off her throne by Reese Witherspoon, a source tells Star…

“Julia’s a big fan of Johnny and wants to work with him before she gets too old, so she’s pouring on the charm.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, December 24, 2007]

Johnny Depp and his longterm girlfriend and mother of his children, French singer Vanessa Paradis, are quite protective of their children’s privacy and are likely to relate to Julia’s recent rant at a paparrazo who tried to take pictures outside her kids’ school. (Roberts still remains annoyed at the paparazzi and is shown in a recent video arguing and trying to reason with them as they follow her around NY City as she does errands. Maybe she didn’t want the news of her Christmas presents to get out.)

Johnny Depp recently told Esquire Magazine that “There’s no limit to the possibilities of what I could do to the paparazzi if I catch them photographing my children.” Maybe Roberts should have written him a note relating to how outraged she is by photographers bothering her children instead of asking directly for a job.

Meanwhile there’s a new interview with Vanessa Paradis in The London Times in which she refuses to even give a cute anecdote about her children when asked:

An inquiry about whether her kids have done anything that made her laugh recently leads to a stern rebuke. “This question is way, way too personal,” she declares, her huge round eyes flashing. To us it may seem odd, but then the French expectations of privacy from the media are much higher

[Times.co.uk via Huffington Post]

So it seems unlikely that we’ll ever get confirmation whether this story about Julia making sweaters for the little Paradis-Depps is true.

Life is good for Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton. In the last few days they’ve each been nominated for a Golden Globe, and then had a baby girl.

The infant, born in London late Saturday, joins big brother Billy, who is 4.

“They are absolutely delighted they have a daughter,” the actress’s rep, Karon Maskill, tells People. “It’s a lovely Christmas present for the family.”

People

Since Helena and Tim live in two houses, joined by a corridor, I’m hoping that at least one of them sneaks into the house that is baby-free and avoids the sleepless nights.

The baby’s name has yet to be announced, but unfortunately their previous child is called Billy, so not a good track record of odd celebrity names. Given that she was pregnant during the filming of Sweeney Todd, causing her breasts to fluctuate in size and ruin the film’s continuity, I’m guessing they’ll give the girl a name related to the film. Sweeney Todd Burton-Bonham-Carter?

The couple also received news of the Golden Globe nominations while at the hospital, where Helena joked that Tim wanted to paint her globular belly gold in celebration. Since we are talking about Tim Burton here, I’m a little surprised he didn’t.

Tim Burton was nominated for his directing and Helena Bonham Carter got a nod for acting, as did Johnny Depp. The film was nominated for best muscial or comedy.

Congratulations to the happy couple. Hopefully the baby isn’t scared by the Burton family decorations of slime balls and dead babies. Doesn’t it seem to be in particularly poor taste to decorate your tree with dead babies when your girlfriend is pregnant? Maybe that’s what they were going for.

I will admit (with deep, deep shame) that for some completely unknown reason, I did not like Johnny Depp for a really, really long time. Stop yelling, yes I know it’s horrible. At least I’ve recognized that I have a problem and have faced it. Then I saw “Finding Neverland” – ONLY because nothing else good was playing, and he was so incredible in it that it changed my opinion forever. So I had to go back and see all the other Johnny Depp movies people were always telling me to see but I wouldn’t bother with because I didn’t like him. Yeah I know I sucked. But I now get how awesome he really is. Johnny lives a pretty low-key life, celebrity-wise. He lives in a small town in France with his longtime girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and their two kids.

It’s normally really annoying to hear a celebrity talk about how they don’t want to be famous. Generally, you want to kick them in the head for it, but somehow from Johnny Depp it’s okay. It seems like he has his priorities in line and just wants to live his life as a normal guy who happens to act.

To Johnny Depp, freedom means simplicity and anonymity. “I’m sure it will be a possibility someday again. Maybe when I get old. They get tired of you,” the actor tells Esquire magazine in its January issue, available Friday. “`Didn’t you used to be Johnny Depp?’ That will be the clincher.”
His friend and mentor Marlon Brando taught Depp to keep his private life private. “That’s your world and it’s nobody else’s business,” he recalls Brando saying. “It’s not anybody’s entertainment.”

A self-described people-watcher, Depp says he’s learned to enter restaurants through the kitchen and hotels through the parking garage. “It’ll definitely make you a little weird if you’re constantly being stared at,” he says. While he loves his work, Depp says he’s “not a great fan of all the stuff that goes along with it. I don’t want to be a product,” he says. “Of course you want the movies to do well. But I don’t want to know … who’s hot now and who’s not and who’s making this much dough and who’s boffing this woman or that one. I want to remain ignorant of all this. I want to be totally outside and far away from all of it.”

[From the Huffington Post]

Alright Johnny Depp, I’m giving you a one-time pass on my kick-in-the-ear-for-celebs-who-complain-about-fame rule. But only because I feel ashamed for not liking your movies for so long, and I feel like I owe you something. Seriously, Johnny’s logic somehow makes sense, and doesn’t come across in that bitching, complaining way it does when most other celebrities do it. Though I could be totally blinded by my new crush on him. Yep, pretty much blinded.

Note by Celebitchy: There’s also a rumor that Johnny Depp might play PeeWee Herman in the upcoming screen version of PeeWee’s Playhouse that we reported on yesterday. And if Depp agrees to star, Tim Burton might direct!