“He was a bit similar to me, kind of suburban, white trash”: Tim Burton Revealed Why He Liked Johnny Depp Despite Hollywood Trying to Cancel Him After Amber Heard Trial

Johnny Depp is Hollywood’s ultimate antihero, who, akin to his several leading characters, frequently divides opinions.

Trusted

Follow
Share

When it comes to his most popular eccentric character, Captain Sparrow of the iconic Pirates of the Caribbean franchise comes first to mind.

However, it was his performance in Edward Scissorhands that in many ways set the ground for Depp’s future projects revolving around unusual heroes.

Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands.
Some might even say the movie about a man with scissor hands, who’s blamed for a crime he did not commit eerily mimics the events that took place in Depp’s personal life down the road.

What Johnny Depp’s Edward Scissorhands Director Tim Burton Said About Cancel Culture

After the success of Edward Scissorhands in the early 90s, Johnny Depp’s career experienced an impressive upward trajectory, and in the next two decades, he delivered three billion-dollar-grossing movies and a string of versatile performances that earned him three Oscar nominations in a Leading Role.

Johnny Depp.
However, ever since his high-profile libel case with UK newspaper The Sun, the ex-husband of Amber Heard has found himself on the fringes of Hollywood, having seen a drastic decrease in involvement with big Hollywood projects.

In an interview with The Independent, Tim Burton, who handed the actor the role in Edward Scissorhands, was asked if Depp has, in symbolic fashion, endured the same experience as the innocent young hero, who finds the mob against him in the 1990 hit. Burton explained:

“Here’s the thing. When I was a child, I always had an image of the angry villagers in Frankenstein… I always used to think about society that way, as the angry village.

You see it more and more. It’s a very, very strange human dynamic, a human trait that I don’t quite like or understand.”

In 2021, Depp claimed he is a victim of cancel culture, adding no one is safe from this.

It must be noted, though, that after the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial in 2022, many fans also demanded Warner Bros. to drop the actress from Aquaman 2.

Tim Burton Explains Why He Liked Johnny Depp

At the time Burton was looking for the lead face for Edward Scissorhands, which also starred Winona Ryder, Depp wasn’t a popular name in the industry for such an important role.

Yet, Burton took a gamble on him and things panned out perfectly for everyone involved.

Tim Burton.
Talking about his relationship with the actor, the Beetlejuice 2 director said (via Deadline):

“He was a bit similar to me, kind of suburban, white trash, whatever – we connected on some kind of level.”

Depp is famous for playing eccentric and dark characters, and Burton is a master of making them.

Accordingly, the duo have collaborated eight times to bring some of the best dark-themed fantasies to the big screen in the last three decades.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, in which Depp played the role of Hatter, was a blockbuster, making more than $1 billion at the box office globally.