Unfortunately, his mother’s drug addiction also became a gateway to the young star’s career. The substance abuse he struggled with for most of his life began at a young age. He claims he started taking his mother’s “nerve pills” at age 11, started smoking at 12, and by 14, had tried “every kind of drug there was.”
His mother died in 2016. In retrospect, the actor said he is grateful for the way she raised him — but not in the way you might expect.
“I’m grateful to her for that,” he continued. “She taught me how not to raise children. Just do the exact opposite of what she did.”
After dropping out of high school in 1979, the actor joined the band The Kids and moved to Los Angeles.
Teen idol
“I started acting by accident,” he admitted.
His longtime friend, renowned actor Nicolas Cage, suggested contacting his agent, which eventually led to auditions with a renowned director.
“Somehow I managed to get a role in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street,’” he recalled.
In the 1990s, he became a teen idol and a star—but one of the few actors to openly reject traditional expectations of that role. He defied this image and, through his film choices and public image, began to forge a new, more unconventional identity in Hollywood.
At 22, he landed the lead role in a series about secret police agents, then landed a role that catapulted him to global superstardom in a box office hit.
He gained worldwide fame for his unforgettable role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series (2003–2017). For this role, he received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, cementing his status as one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors. And who is behind these legendary roles? None other than Johnny Depp.
John Waters, Johnny Depp, and Winona Ryder at the premiere of “Cry-Baby” in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. (Photo: Ke.Mazur/WireImage)
While Depp was filming the film in Hollywood, his first marriage to makeup artist Lori Anne Depp ended. The couple, who married in Florida, were together from 1983 to 1985.
After several subsequent relationships—most notably with Winona Ryder and Jennifer Grey—he met Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children. Their relationship lasted 14 years, and together they raised 22-year-old Lily-Rose and 20-year-old Jack.
Speaking about his parenting style, he explained that his approach was shaped by the abuse he experienced as a child.
“When my daughter, Vanessa, got pregnant, I knew exactly how to raise children, which was to do the opposite of what they did—like Betty Sue,” he said. “Never raise your voice in front of your children—ever. When I yelled ‘no’ at them, I never meant to say ‘no’ to them. I wanted to show them that there are options. You don’t have to stick a coat hanger in an electrical outlet.”
He described how he used the conversation method in his contacts with children:
