Depp reflects on creative life and past love
Actor Johnny Depp speaks in front of one of his paintings during an interview after a media preview of his art exhibition in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
Johnny Depp unveiled a collection of his artworks, titled 'A Bunch of Stuff' in Tokyo on Thursday, offering fans a rare glimpse into his creative universe beyond the silver screen.
The exhibition, featuring pieces crafted over three decades, follows the debut of his collection in New York and has been hailed as a showcase of his enduring artistic curiosity.
"Acting is a form of expression, music certainly the same, and painting, drawing, creating something," Depp told AFP in an interview. "I find that is the one true, constant necessity I must have. Otherwise, my brain will explode."
Depp, who directed last year's biopic of Amedeo Modigliani, also appears in the upcoming films 'Day Drinker' and 'Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol'. His debut collection, 'Friends and Heroes', sold out within hours in Britain in 2022, generating £3 million and selling 780 prints through 37 galleries run by Castle Fine Art.
"I don't claim to be anything other than, at most, someone who paints. I'm not even a painter, really," he added, reflecting his modest approach to the exhibition.
The actor, known worldwide for roles in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Edward Scissorhands', described how creating art allows him to be fully present and engaged. "What excites me today, what can give me a little jolt of electricity, is something that surprises me," he said, emphasising the thrill of the unexpected in his creative pursuits.
Blissful memories
Later in the interview, Depp reflected on his life with former French partner Vanessa Paradis and their two children. "I have nothing but incredible memories from those days. They gave me time to be a tour father," he said. "Vanessa was doing her shows, you know, various tours. I got to be just daddy for a while. Hence the title of her record 'Bliss'. It was bliss."
Depp and Paradis were together from 1998 to 2012, and the couple share two children. He recalled the period as a rare time of stability amid a turbulent career and the public scrutiny that has followed him in recent years.
His past relationships, including his brief marriage to Amber Heard, and his highly publicised legal battles, remain widely covered, but Depp described fatherhood and creative expression as the constants in his life. "Everything we had been doing for the past 15 years was as if we were preparing to tell everyone who wanted to know about our culture," he said, in reference to his art and storytelling pursuits.