“It was an opportunity to play the straight man”: Johnny Depp Starred in One of His Worst Movies Ever Only to Work With an Oscar Nominated Actor He Revered

Johnny Depp didn’t care about how the movie would fare among its audiences, but rather about getting the chance to work with his icon in it!

One of the most crucial parts of every actor’s job is figuring out if the project they’re being offered is worthy enough of having a part in. While most actors choose their projects based on the storyline, that isn’t quite the case with Johnny Depp.

Well, he doesn’t always do that with all of his projects, but the only time that he did, it was for a chance to star with someone he admired — an opportunity he couldn’t let go just like that.

Johnny Depp in Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The actor in the talk here is none other than the Oscar-nominated genius, Christopher Walken, whom Depp starred in Nick of Time with.

Although the project then went on to crash at the box office, not only becoming a box-office bomb but also earning a place on the list of the worst movies Johnny Depp has ever starred in, at least he got the chance to work with his icon!

Johnny Depp only took on Nick of Time to work with his icon

Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken in Nick of Time (1995)

When Johnny Depp took on the 1995 thriller-action Nick of Time, audiences were really surprised at his choice. Not only because it was the unlikeliest of roles, but also because it had the most unlikeliest of stories as compared to all his previous ones.

In the film, the Pirates of the Caribbean alum had to play the role of Gene Watson, the accountant father of a 6-year-old girl who would get killed if he didn’t assassinate the state governor within 75 minutes in real-time.

Yet, Depp took on the role, and even when the film became a critically panned disaster, didn’t express any remorse as he had achieved his sole aim while accepting the role: getting the chance to work with Oscar-nominated actor Christopher Walken and director John Badham.

As he shared during an interview with the Gainesville Sun while expressing how he didn’t know “if the film was particularly good”:

“I did that film not for money or not to sell out. I didn’t think it was going to be successful at all. I didn’t care,” he explained. “I did it because I wanted to work with Christopher Walken and I wanted to work with John Badham.”

He also let out that the script of the movie felt “very much like an old school Hitchcock film,” which intrigued him to take part in it. During another interview with the Washington Post, he let known similar thoughts as he said:

“I liked the script. I thought it was a good time to make a change… I figured I’d do something else after being accused by everybody of playing weirdos. It was an opportunity to play the straight man.”

Thus, even when Nick of Time went on to gross a mere $8 million from the box office on its budget of $33 whopping million (via Box Office Mojo), Johnny Depp wasn’t the one with a sad face as he was able to achieve all the objectives that he joined the movie in the first place for!

Johnny Depp got to work with Christopher Walken once again

Christopher Walken and Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Though the first time Johnny Depp got to work with Christopher Walken didn’t quite result in a golden egg, all of it was made for when the pair collaborated for the second time to work on Tim Burton‘s horror fantasy, Sleepy Hollow, a mere four years later.

An adaptation of Washington Irving’s original classic tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this 1999 movie saw Depp in the role of the police officer named Ichabod Crane while Walken was seen in the character of the Headless Horseman.

Not only did Sleep Hollow fare thoroughly far better among the critics and the general audiences alike as compared to Nick of Time, but it also went on to gross a whopping $206 million worldwide on its budget of $100 million, as per Box Office Mojo.

Just like that, Johnny Depp not only got the chance to work more than once with Christopher Walken but even made a movie so spectacular that his first box-office bomb with his icon was left far forgotten!