Is Johnny Depp giving up drinking to preserve his ‘meal ticket’ good looks?

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is 49 years old, and he’s definitely starting to look his age. While it’s true that we all get older and lose our (presumably good) looks at a certain age, it certainly seems like a sudden deterioration for Johnny in recent days. Of course, I’ve been secretly theorizing that Johnny’s been on the downswing for the better part of the past decade, and nobody has noticed the issue onscreen because he’s been wearing wacky costumes in his movies for so long. Then Johnny was actually required to wear normal dude clothing for The Tourist, and he looked like crap. Obviously, it’s hard to tell what anyone looks like underneath that Jack Sparrow costume with its eyeliner, dreads, and pirate teeth, and Johnny’s been using that fact to his advantage.

I also remain convinced that if Johnny gave himself a good scrubbing (he looks so grubby in his civilian gear) and lost those bloody scarves, he’d probably instantly lose a few years in appearance. Johnny, however, allegedly believes that if he stops boozing so much, he’ll retain his youthful glow. That also makes sense, but since he’s been a hard boozer for decades, is it too late to undo the damage? Here’s the story from this week’s Star:

Johnny Depp

He boasts his very own vineyard in France and a world-class wine cellar, but Johnny Depp is giving up his drink of choice and going on the wagon in hopes of preserving his famous good looks. “Johnny’s tried to quit drinking before, but this time he is really serious,” his friend tells Star. “He even gave a pal six of his most expensive bottles!”

Johnny so loves drinking that he sports a “Wino Forever” tattoo on his arm to cover up his “Winona Forever” ink — but he is now changing his priorities. “Booze is really drying and aging to the skin — Johnny’s lucky to have good genes, but he knows his looks are his meal ticket.”

[From Star, print edition, October 22, 2012]

No more “Wino Forever”? What an end to an era. As for Johnny’s fear that he’ll lose his “meal ticket” if his looks go … well, look at what happened to Marlon Brando, and people still hired him. Maybe Marlon didn’t get the really high-paying gigs towards the end of his life, but he certainly wasn’t going hungry. In any case, Johnny should take a good look at Keith Richards, for this is his future.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

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79 Responses to “Is Johnny Depp giving up drinking to preserve his ‘meal ticket’ good looks?”

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  1. Co says:

    Regardless, I’d still hit that with the strength of ten full grown men.

  2. marie says:

    hahaha, that ship sailed a while back. he just needs a good bath or two.

  3. Ranunculus says:

    Kudos to Vanessa to have been able to look at such a grumpy face every morning. I don’t get the appeal for this guy at all.

  4. RN says:

    Please quit smoking, too, Johnny. You look like you smell like a sweaty ashtray.

  5. carrie says:

    yet if he took a shower every day and washed his clothes….

  6. Brown says:

    Losing at least 1 or 2 of the scarves, getting a haircut, and discontinue the practice of attaching chains to his pants/belt would be a good place to start, but I fear the damage has been done…

  7. athina says:

    i think that he looks great for 49 old but the media should leave him alone now.he made headlines for almost all the summer. Don’t you think it’s time to give it a rest???enough with these johnny depp stories.except from the break up everything else you said was nothing but lies or it’s still unconfirmed

    • marjon says:

      absolutely agree 100 per cent – he looks fantastic for his age and he has so much more to give in his films he has been making films since 1984 and the best is yet to come – roll on the lone ranger – he is like a fine wine -he is maturing and ageing perfectly – the press need to stop jumping on his back – give him a break -hes just had a major break up !!

  8. Gia says:

    He should probably stop smoking too…

  9. Shitler says:

    Keith Richards looks like a reanimated corpse

  10. diana says:

    Depp’s last few movies sucked. The biggest mistake of my life is watching Dark Shadows – may not be the worst movie but dashed my expectations. ๐Ÿ™
    Going to watch Lone Ranger though. But I think his starring roles have become quite limited. Heavens forbid another Jack Sparrow movie.

  11. Gigi says:

    This story is so fake.

    Does he look like someone who pays attention on appearence? Or what others may think of him? I don’t think so.

    He’s different, very atypical Hollywood actor and I respect him for that.

    Underneath all those clothes and make-up Johnny (49) has a face of a man in his thirties.

    Leave him alone!

    • Jackie O says:

      seriously?

      i think he is very conscious of what he wears. its all so contrived…desperate to project the image of a bohemian ‘artist’.

      • Ranunculus says:

        +1
        He is the typical stinking rich Hollywood product, who collects tons of money for making increasingly terrible movies. Boozing himself to insanity out of boredom.

  12. Micki says:

    …”but he knows his looks are his meal ticket.โ€

    I respectfully disagree with Star.Johnny has 3 Oscar nominations and about 10 Golden Globe’s ones. Is this so because of his looks?

    That he’s aging and not doing much about it is his personal decision, but imagine the steam if he DID DO something a la Teroux or E.Hurley’s BF.I think it’s sort of double standart.You do and you get slammed, you don’t and you get slammed.

    And my take on his wine consumption is: it is possible that the Europeans trink in general more than in US and it’s always a reason to go OMG!

  13. dcypher1 says:

    I think its a little to late for him to stop drinking. He should have thought about this in his 30s or 40s. He too old already. Hes not going to stop I bet well hear in a month hes back to boozing again.

  14. Lee says:

    No alcoholic goes on the wagon because of how they look or smell. Not buying this story, unfortunately. Too bad, because it does appear he has a problem.

    • ladybert62 says:

      Hi Lee – I agree with your comment 100%.

      A drinker like Depp will not stop drinking just to improve or keep his looks. It would take a serious life crisis to even get him to think seriously about stopping the booze.

      One of his idols was Hunter Thompson after all!

  15. SueD says:

    God forbid he lose his meal ticket, he’d really be hovering around the poverty line then.

    • Lisa says:

      LOL, exactly what I was thinking. It’s not like he couldn’t just stop working and still be fine for the rest of his life (and his kids would probably never have to work, either).

  16. lizzi says:

    I lost the hots for him so, so long ago. Remember him in Chocolat?

    • SmokeyBlues says:

      YES I remover him in that movie and he was amazingly gorgeous. I still think he’s hot, I fear I may always think he’s hot no matter what!

  17. melangie says:

    Yup, he’s going to look like Keith, but without the guitar god skills. Being a member of the Rolling Stones for 50 years trumps the Dirty Faux Pirate look Depp has cultivated hands down. Keith’s the real deal. Johnny’s a poser.

  18. Chatcat says:

    Oh Deppshit, that ship has sailed…about 5 teeth ago.

    Just keep boozing, it give us another washed up male star besides Tommy the Tyrannical Narcissist, who outside of the “franchise” movies you guys are in, career is so far down the crapper that both of you should have to pay the studios to be in a movie, not the other way around.

  19. jinni says:

    Or maybe he stop drinking because he sees that’s it’s helped him f up his personal life and has been affecting his ability to act. Hmm, maybe? Oh no, of course, it’s because he trying to presevre the looks that he has never even tried to play up in the majority of his roles.

  20. Ellie66 says:

    He haveing a mid- life crisis (for a while now) he does need to stop with the weird hats and scarves and take a shower. But damn I still hit that over and over! Lol!

  21. rose says:

    for god’s sake leave him alone

  22. bar world land says:

    I still think he’s hot.

  23. Sara says:

    These celebrity men just need to drink moderately, stop smoking(worse than drinking as far as aging you), eat healthy which they have the ease of doing because they have personal chefs, take fish oil, drink plenty of water, and get some exercise. I manage to do this as a regular person on most days, why can’t they?

  24. ladybert62 says:

    He is an alcoholic – he will not give up the booze.

    He looks his best dressed as Capt Jack Sparrow – any other time he looks dirty and slovenly.

  25. mystified says:

    Loved your remark about Marlon Brando certainly not going hungry at the end of his life. Lol

    • MrsBPitt says:

      I laughed out loud at that Brando comment too!! I just wish JD would step away from these “character” rolls…I am sick to death of seeing him in some odd costume and makeup and speaking in a wierd voice…I wish he would do more movies like Finding Neverland…I love that movie…grow the F up johnny!!!

  26. bea says:

    I agree with comment above – it’s the cigs he should quit first – they just kill your skin (and lungs, hearts, etc)

  27. bns says:

    No way he’s going to stop. He’s spent way too much time with Keith Richards, Al Pacino, and Marlon Brando over the years.

  28. Aboveall says:

    He stopped drinking alcohol for months now…it was reported in january or february in several media and also he has been photographed with those pack of “NON-Alcoholic” beer…

    In those media it was said it was because he was under the influence of his natives pals and obviously, because he was drinking a lot principally because the bad state of his relationship with Vanessa Paradis, and according to the reports they broke up at the end of the 2011, so it was the right time to take control over his life and health again

    I don’t believe for a second that he can take any action because his looks…that’s ridiculous! he obviously DOESN’T CARE HOW HE LOOKS!

    And stop bitching about his appeareance, on the pictures in this article he looks better than he has looked in years!…but haters gonna hate!

  29. Lady Satan says:

    I saw an interview (I think it was ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’) where JD talked about his ’21 Jump Street’ days and how he hated being sold as a product strictly on his looks.

    If you look at his movie career, a good number of them are character roles versus the traditional leading-man types.

    Is he concerned about his looks? Aren’t we all to some degree? I think Star is waaaaay off base on this one though – I think Johnny would much rather be known as a good solid actor than as a pretty face.

  30. Dredz says:

    He can look good if he wants to. When he was filming Public Enemy, he scrubbed up quite nicely. Had he looked like that in The Tourist, the movie would have been a much bigger success.

  31. palermo says:

    He looks like he lives underneath a freeway overpass, he is disgusting. He also has the nastiest teeth of any actor today, they are BROWN

    • LeslieM says:

      Thank you! He’s not even 50 and he looks a mess. I’d like to see what he’d look like if he took a bath and washed his hair and put on some decent clothes. A serious teeth cleaning might be in order too.

  32. Dredz says:

    Johnny looked disappointingly pudgy in The Tourist, while Angelina looked incredibly elegant. What a pity, he should have been styled to look more dashing.

    • He doesn't like Angie says:

      Are you kidding right? his looks in “The Tourist” was obviously a “self-protection” technique to get rid of Angelina ๐Ÿ˜€

      He cleans up quite nicely when he wants to impress his co-star: “Public Enemies” Marion Cotillard even in “Dark Shadows” he looked handsome, but he had Eva Green to impress.

      And, of course, his latest and sucessful effort to impress a co-star: “Rum Diary” with Amber Heard!

  33. Ma-k says:

    I also read he quit the alcohol after his split with Vanessa (the real split, not the announcement on june) so, many months ago

    I don`t know how we can interpreted it, but I doubt it has anything to do with his “looks”…his most successful work has him with his face as covered in makeup that you almost can’t recognize him, so obviously his work doesn’t lies on his “face” (and for that he better quit the smoking and not the wine)

    • MrsBPitt says:

      Maybe Vanessa told him to quit the booze or he wouldn’t be seeing his kids very often…

      • The children are with him says:

        Maybe you need better information, because the kids are mostly with him…is Vanessa the one who was obligated to “move a lot” to share time with them…she spends most of her time in France, meanwhile the children are in USA with him

        The split was a “win win” situation for him. Maybe he lost half of his fortune in Vanessa, but he did win his freedom, his children and the “new” girl!

      • Lou Lou says:

        @The Children are With Him:
        There is this things called “shared custody” so just like when Vanessa is away working and the kids are with JD, the same thing happens in return when he is away working and they are with their mother. Just like she said in an interview this summer as to why she continues to split her time between France and the U.S.

  34. darth says:

    I’ve heard before that it’s a trait of a Gemini to over-accessorize, so maybe he can’t help it.
    It’s funny to see him with that long dangly earring at the Dark Shadows premiere. Reminds me of his 21 Jump St days. Lots and lots of earrings on that show lol.

    • MrsBPitt says:

      Ah…my husband is a Gemini and I have never seen him wear a scarf, or bandana, or chains, or eyeliner or…well you get the picture….

  35. dooliloo says:

    He’d probably gain 10yrs of youth if he gets rid of the circus clothes and wears the simplest outfit : clean shaven, ponytail hairdo, clean white t-shirt, pair of blue jeans, he can keep his old boots and blue glasses!
    But of course that’d be killing the whole concept of Johnny Depp identity so never mind I can keep dreaming… *sigh*
    And I’d still hit that eh! ๐Ÿ˜€

  36. amy C says:

    Image healing time. You have a long time to work that until the next movie johnny.

  37. Pari says:

    Never used to read as much on Johnny Depp until after the “Split Series” this last summer, so I am not sure if what I feel right now is NEW / from of OLD ๐Ÿ™‚

    (1) Is there a PR Gang wanting to become part of his PR plan? Why is there such a rush of negative comments for write-ups about him… so often?? And anyone reading “through” some of the comments one can very well see that they stem “from sources” ๐Ÿ™‚

    (2) On simillar lines… is there a “Stylist” machinery, wanting to wear him some clothing?? HAHAHAHAHA Or may be losing out on endorsement chances / $$$ because he most probably does not like to … well ๐Ÿ™‚ I honestly think that his style is unique, and gives him an identity that is layered… Sad though that they are not read by most very well… but that is a different thing altogether…

    (3) About the cleanliness… Aha! What is CLEAN, folks? Wearing clean clothes on the outside and butchering people from “behind-the-scenes” OR just being clean inside and not worrying on the muck that gets thrown in on you from the outside?? ๐Ÿ™‚

    (4) Oooooops!!! I forgot! Must’ve been the “booze” company… the party preyers… that must be missing out on his not drinking… IF that is true that is… HAHAHAHAHAHA…

    Oh WHY must we support “the cause”… the worthy one (?) that gets fought for, where every celebrated citizen OUGHT to be caught BAD, ELSE he/she is just so… hmmmm… Don’t we want want to make easy NEWS real bad… ๐Ÿ˜€

  38. Madriani'sGirl says:

    How about you quit smoking? That alone will age a person tremendously, let alone drinking heavily. And smoking can cause brown spots on the face as well as all of the dry skin and wrinkles.

    • dooliloo says:

      Yes the smoking too! Like Michael Fassbender, our lovely ginger beard, drinking smoking living the life… I mean he’s only 35 and yes he’s strikes me as someone who’s 42… Well I’d still hit that for sure ๐Ÿ˜€

  39. bigt says:

    Think he looks like sht. Dirty, greasy hair, looks drunk and most likely smelling like an ashtray. He dresses like a complete fool. Would hit it..with a shovel.

  40. Amy says:

    He looks like he’s been embalmed.

  41. jani says:

    I think that, for a heavy smoker, he looks very good for his age. Even in these pictures his skin looks clear and tight and he has relatively few wrinkles around his mouth or eyes.

    What makes him look bad, IMO, are his ridiculous outfits, esp. THE SCARVES and hats. The greasy, stringy hair is also particularly disgusting. (I blame his bromance with Tim Burton for a lot of this crap.)

    Easy to fix. (Esp. if you’re rich.) Get good haircut and re-acquaint self with shampoo, etc. Bleach teeth to normal shade of white. Get good stylist and lose the layers of hideous, age inappropriate, raggedy clothing. Stay hydrated and eat, sleep and exercise reasonably.

    STOP SMOKING. It’s not too late for lungs, heart and general health to greatly improve. Drink a bit of wine in moderation if you feel like it. Despite what some say, I don’t think that he’s an alcoholic.

    Stop taking ridiculous, childish, costume roles. They are not edgy. They’re just stupid. Pick some adult, human interest, character driven parts.

    You’re welcome Mr. Depp. That will be $50,000 for the advice. Call me any time if you have questions or even if you don’t, as long as you have washed your hair, etc.

    • Quit says:

      Oh! don’t blame Tim Burton for his look…even Tim Burton dress better than him and also is Johnny the one who chooses his costume for the movies (that’s what says his long time collaborator, Colleen Atwood) nothing to do with Mr. Burton (but for Helena’s looks…well, that’s different!!)

  42. alys says:

    Smoking accelerates aging, allegedly. He is so addicted to cigarettes that he was quoted as saying he moved to France so he could smoke in peace. Surely Vanessa figured into that equation somewhere but his emphasis was on being able to smoke.

  43. I'm going to Guam! says:

    Leave him alone!! :'(

  44. Auj says:

    I think you nailed it-he’s been a wino forever and I don’t think he can stop.
    I love him anyway.
    I can look at old pics and remember when he was beautiful.

  45. RdyfrmycloseupmrDvlle says:

    I used to be a HUGE fan…when he used to do interesting roles and movies. I look at the pics of back then. Now, hes become a tired parady of himself and he looks utterly ridiculous. Bloated, fat, brown teeth, disgusting….why? cause he became so deluded, addicted and madly in love with himself. ugh. Doesnt care how he looks? Yeah, right. What bull. It makes me sick how he dresses and that HAT. Wtf. Get a damn clue. Ugh. Im so over this jerk. Im bored by him now. Now hes just a fat, bloated, unkempt old wino.

    • Quit says:

      “cause he became so deluded, addicted and madly in love with himself.”
      And you know this why? Do you talk to him every day? or it’s just your “brilliant intuition” that behind the always described as one of nicest people in Hollywood, he is a real “deluded…madly in love with himself”…you should be a PHD on Psychology to know that much about him without knowing him!

      The thing that has me tired it’s to read again and again, people complaining about how “tired” they are of him, but they continue reading and commenting even the most stupid story about him like this!!…that’s funny!

  46. slh says:

    โ€˜meal ticketโ€™ good looks? When has Depp ever used his good looks for movie roles? He does everything he can to not look like himself over 75% of the time.

  47. molly says:

    I think he is bored and his outfits give him something to do. Keep smoking and drinking, just lose some weight. (I saw you in your striped pajamas) Don’t ever, ever let anyone touch your face with a knife. EVER! You’ll always be handsome,and just like Keith if you give it time.