Cannes: The Weinstein Co. Books ‘Suite … 
BBC Confirms ‘Doctor Who’ Season 8 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $22M Friday For Lower … 
Finally, Cannes Dealing! Radius-TWC Nabs Director’s … 
Hammond On Cannes: Wet Fest’s Official Competition … 
‘Vampire Academy’ Adds ‘Modern … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Shark Tank’ Finale Up, … 
Cannes: Worldview Options Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn … 
UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
‘Mike & Molly’ Creator Mark Roberts To … 
Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts Set For … 
Hammond On Cannes: Weinstein Brings Out Stars For 2013 … 
Cannes: Fake Gunshots Interrupt Canal Plus Live Broadcast … 
‘The Great Gatsby’ Starts With $5.4M … 
Cannes: Music Box Snags Competition’s ‘Michael … 
UPDATE: Amazon Studios Begins Pilot Pickups; … 
Bruce Rosenblum Bids Classy Goodbye 
RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits … 
UPDATE: ‘Iron Man 3′ Box Office Crosses $1B … 
Upfront Market: Will Auto Makers Subsidize TV … 
Cannes: Thief Makes Off With $1M+ In Chopard Jewelry Meant … 
Johnny Depp was interviewed by Vanity Fair on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and had one interesting revelation: “They couldn’t stand him. They just couldn’t stand him,” Depp says of Disney’s reaction to his controversial interpretation of Sparrow. “I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, ‘He’s ruining the movie.’ Depp reveals that he remained unfazed by the studio’s hysteria. “Upper-echelon Disney-ites, going, ‘What’s wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?…’ And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite… ‘But didn’t you know that all my characters are gay?’ Which really made her nervous.”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
all gay? That puts a whole new spin on his role as Willy Wonka!!
His Willy Wonka was Michael Jackson. Exactly. Seemed plain as day to me.
Disney is and always has been ubergay. So what’s their problem?
…Both versions of Willy Wonka have read as pedophile to me. I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one. (Well, outside my family.)
His Willy Wonka was nothing like Michael Jackson. Not the look, not his mannerisms, nothing. I still don’t get why people insist on this.
I’m going to use “lol” for this, cause it’s appropriate.
Up until now I’ve liked Johnny Depp a lot. Now I love him.
my sentiments EXACTLY.
That WOULD make them nervous… ugh.
Well… when your mascot is a fey little mouse, maybe you get a bit sensitive about such things.
Johnny’s the man! Can’t wait for him to be the Barnabas Collins all us Dark Shadows fans want him to be.
That is going to be the shit.
I doubt Michael Eisner said that. Yes, Depp’s character is more drunk than most Disney characters. But being gay is a pretty Disney thing.
“But being gay is a pretty Disney thing.”
How in the world do you figure?
Doesn’t Disney even have an event called “Gay Days”?
But what does that have to do with their movies? I cannot think of any Disney movies that have openly gay characters, anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Anyone who’s worked with Disney knows it’s the Gayest place on earth, especially in marketing. Two ways to get hired at DOL – be gay or be Indian.
I agree!! I used to work at Disney and the Majority of the Men were Gay! Also, they have a “Gay” night where gay customers can enjoy together!! So don’t know why Disney is like that about a movie Character…. Ah yes.. The Disney Image!! Nobody knows they are one of the biggest Gay employers.
Classic. Nobody seemed to notice, rather, that he was doing Keith Richards… well, not “doing” Keith Richards. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew. If MIchael Eisner got upset about anything, it would be Depp’s use of a Warner Brothers character for motivation.
Johnny is just effin COOL. Lifelong fan here. Go Man!
Disney is the gayest and most gay friendly company this side of Fire Island (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I can’t see a gay Johnny Depp being anything short of a dream come true for them…
There’s a difference between being a gay friendly company (partner benefits, non-discrimination, etc), and having one of your franchise movies which is partially marketed to heavily-red states who are needed to guarantee success for a wide-release movie potentially shun your product. Disney may be a great company to work for if you’re gay, but have no illusions about what the marketing departments are up against.
I would think anybody in the ‘red’ states would regard someone with an english or french accent as ‘gay’.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Why am I suddenly seeing this reported everywhere? Isn’t this news YEARS old?? Depp has discussed this many MANY times in the past dating all the way back to the original film’s release. Why are people acting like this latest interview is some sort of brand new revelation??
You’re right. It was reported years ago, just after the first movie came out. I remember Depp telling that story — or some version of it — on Letterman. But I don’t believe he has ever said that it was Michael Eisner, specifically, who asked if the character was gay. He also never revealed that little tidbit about telling the exec that “all my characters are gay,” which is a pretty tremendous punchline.
I was totally thinking the same thing… I absolutely remember right when the first one came out this was all over the place — how Disney hated him in dailies and they were so worried that Depp’s portrayal was ruining a potential franchise.
Does everyone in this town really have that short of a memory span?
It was only 7 years ago. Depp is just repeating things he’s already said in the past.
I remember him saying Disney hated his portrayal. This is the first time I’ve heard him specify that he was playing Jack as a gay character.
Depp did NOT play him as gay. A Disney exec asked if he was supposed to be gay, and Depp said (obviously joking) “all my characters are gay!)
Wait, Tom Hanson was gay?
As a fellow mouseketeer, I am so proud of Johnny Depp for keeping alive Walt Disney’s spirit of imagination. Everbody knows Goofy was gay. No wife, or cover wife and just nephews. I am waiting for the Queen of England to give him the title of SIR Johnny Depp. By the way everybody in France is gay. Don’t fool yourselves.
Uhm, you can’t be a very good Mouseketeer if you actually think that Goofy is gay. Frequently throughout the cartoons of the 1950′s he portrayed an average family man, with wife and child, known as “George Geef.” Then, in the film “A Goofy Movie,” it’s pretty clear that he was once married and he has a son named Max. That movie came out nearly 20 years ago, so really, there’s no excuse. Max has since become a major character in the Disney pantheon, and he and Goof always call each other “Dad” and “Son.” Hmmmm.
Donald and Mickey both have nephews. And girlfriends. So…yeah. There goes that argument.
And how, exactly, did Johnny keep Walt’s spirit alive by telling everyone he was playing gay? I get that his take on the character was a bit more over the top than anyone expected, but I seriously doubt if anyone at Disney was actually worried about him being gay. Sparrow never comes across as gay, just very besotted and half-addled.
Disney drones are just too damn thick to take in the rich, resonating perversion of Depp’s laser focused cinema seditions. It’s pure opium smoking, kiddie-free Lord Byron-style pleasure seeking at the center of that decadent pirate performance and most of his other ones too. The pirate’s bi. Of course Disney hated it.
Even Tom Hanson was gay?? Did Penhall and Ioki know?
You’re kidding. I thought Hanson was with Hoffs.
He was impersonating Keith Richards, how could they think he was playing a gay character? If he impersonated Freddie Mercury then maybe…
Is Johnny going to play Tonto as gay? That would certainly put a new slant on the masked man’s best friend.
Truly, the way Johnny brings many characters to the screen is always interesting. He can do whatever he wishes to make his characters work.
And Disney can cry all the way to the bank.
Thanks, Johnny!
Maybe that’s why The Lone Ranger felt he had to wear a mask. They were strickter about such things back then.
A gay Tonto? Lenny Bruce covered that.Can’t find it on the internet, this is paraphrasing from reading it years ago: Lenny’s on trial, the Yiddish-speaking undercover cop testifies that Lenny used an obscene word for penis:
schmuck. Lenny says:Schmuck can mean a fool. I was using it like “Who drove all the way to Westchester? Me, like a schmuck!” Not like Tonto’s a fag Indian- “Hey, white man! Me like a schmuck!”
Very close. It was, “We came from the Bronx. Who drove all the way? Me, like a schmuck. Not, ‘Me like a schmuck,’ unless you’re a faggot Indian. ‘Ho, White Man. Me like-a schmuck.’”
Disney was not concerned about Depp/Sparrow coming off “gay”. They were very worried about him coming off like a drunk. If you read the script (any of them for that matter) his character was written relatively straight with some humor. Depp took it 3 levels up on his own. During dailies, the Disney execs were saying “what the hell is this”. Bruckheimer could do nothing about it either. Now they are laughing all the way to the bank and Depp became a tentpole movie star.
Disney loves it when they stumble into greatness. In working with them I have always found it best to make them nervous because that assures me I’m right. I was sitting in on a meeting once when the record guys were laughing their asses off because they were moving 30,000 units a week of Freaky Friday soundtracks without spending any marketing money. They thought that was the greatest thing in the world. I asked them why don’t you spend some money and try to move 100,000 CD’s a week? They looked at me like I was crazy.
If Disney assures you it won’t work then I advise you to mortgage the house on your dream because that’s as good a green light as it gets.
If he’s gay in “The Tourist,” the trailers are misleading…
Depp can do anything. One of the most talented actors on screen for the past 20years+. It’s a shame he seems to only do a couple of films every 5 years…
Then in the next sequel will Jack Sparrow finally get a boyfriend?
Johnny Depp is wonderful. How can you not like this guy? BTW, the Mad Hatter seemed a bit “gay” as well, LOL.
Michael Eisner is a douchebag.
This just in – major studio executives don’t know a great acting performance when they see one. Panic ensues. Kudos to JD and GV for standing firm.
gotta love this guy
love when someone tells “them” where to put their ideas. ESPECIALLY disney. rock on, johnny.