Thursday, June 3, 2010

Task Two: Celebrity Role Models

Celebrity #2: Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky on June 9th, 1963 and is of Cherokee, Irish and German descent. He dropped out of school at 15 with aspirations of becoming a musical star. While in California with his first wife, Lori Anne Allison, he was introduced by her to Nicolas Cage, who helped him land his first acting role in Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. From there, he got his ultimate “jumpstart” in 21 Jump Street in 1987. But only in 1990, when he started collaborating with director Tim Burton did Depp’s true potential start to show. His first Burton film was Edward Scissorhands (1990), and he continued to star in his films, including Ed Wood (1994) and Sleepy Hollow (1999). As one of the most talented and versatile actors in Hollywood, Depp has excelled in films like Blow (2001) as George Jung, Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) as Captain Jack Sparrow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) as Willy Wonka.

Johnny has been engaged multiple times, to different actresses including Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He is now happily living with, but not married to his girlfriend, Vanessa Paradis and their two children; Lily-Rose Melody, 11 and Jack, 8. Depp has always done his best to stay out of the spotlight, as he lives with his family in France. As well, Depp has been part of multiple “sexiest stars” lists over the years, being named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2003. He has also always been knownt to be a very witty, person with a great sense of humour. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 19th 1999, with Tim Burton as a guest speaker.

Johnny Depp is important to me because of his accomplishments. He’s one of the greatest actors of all time, and has never succumbed to the limelight of Hollywood. His style is one that cannot be tied down by one description; it is unique and ever changing. At one point he will be sporting a clean shaven, pulled together look, and the next he will be bearded and eclectic. From the very beginning he was always ambitious, and always put everything he had into every single role he played.

Personally, I don’t think that his awards are an accurate example of the talent he has. Although he has been nominated for dozens of awards over the years, he has won a very small amount of them. In my opinion, he has never been “Hollywood” enough, yet I find that to be one of the most intriguing things about him. I do not think that the minuscule amount of awards he has actually won do him justice whatsoever. Johnny Depp has always been a very artistic person, through his music, acting, and other outlets he’s used. Although I find his acting to be the greatest one he has at his disposal. He truly is a chameleon when it comes to playing a role.

I feel that Depp’s biggest accomplishment is breaking the mould of what a true “celebrity” should be seen as. He has more talent than the majority of people in the business at this time, but shows it in a very discreet way. You will never see Depp flaunt anything he has in a way that many others will do. Depp has always been a humble, down to earth person. He will always be associated with his early image of being a “bad boy”, but I feel that he’s doing a great job of taking on the responsibility and persona of being a family man and a father very well.

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