Johnny Depp Talks About His Success



Maybe I'm a dummy, but I don't worry that a lot of my films haven't had big results at the box office, because I'm not a businessman. Believe me, I would love for one of my movies to be accepted by a wide audience, but I'm not going to do a film just because it's going to do that. (1999)

All I can say is for a guy like me, who's been dangling in this business for the last 20 years, to finally have something hit, it's unexpected and very touching. (2003)

I've never had an allergy to the idea of commercial success. When you put a movie out and it's successful, that's great. I just wanted to get there in the right way, in a way that's not too compromising or demeaning or ugly. (2004)

I don't think I sold out. I never had any allergy to commercial success and I think I have a relatively sane outlook on it all. I just feel it wasn't like this for a long, long time and chances are it won't stay like this, which is ok, because even when I was box-office poison I was still able to do films I wanted to. There was never a moment when I thought that something was going to be a good career-move, or that I could make a slew of cash and skate for a little while. (Source: The Independent, July 7, 2006)

Never, not once, and I don't know why, because one would think that I would have. I suppose it's because I feel like I have a voice. The idea of commercial success never bothered me necessarily. What bothered me was striving for that, and lying to get that. If I was going to do something, it had to be on my terms - not because I'm some hideous control freak - but because I don't want to live a lie. You really don't want to look back on your life and go, "I was a complete fraud". - on worrying over the rumors that he'd 'sold out' doing POTC (Source: Newsweek, June 26, 2006)

I don't think anyone should get used to [all of the attention]. I think if you do, there's - something could be very wrong with you. (Source: Yahoo! Video, May 19, 2007, POTC:AWE Premier at Anneheim, CA)

I can't think of myself in terms of celebrity. It's just too weird. If the choice is between being gawked at and sitting in a chair in a dark room, I prefer the dark room. (Source: Ireland On-line, June 2009)

About Awards:

It was such a shock, to get the news that I'd been nominated [for the Oscar]. My first reaction was 'Why?' On one level I was flattered; but it's not what I'm working for. And when I didn't win the Thing -- oh, I was ecstatic. Absolutely ecstatic. I applauded the lucky winner [Sean Penn] and said, "Thank God!" (Source: Rolling Stone, February 2005)

It's weird, although life is sort of... in the Screen Actors Guild award and various nominations and things like that is...although on one hand it's a great honour. It truly is. When that kind of thing arrives, it felt like it came out of nowhere, out of left field, because all I've been doing is focusing my attention to the work. So, if you're focused on this thing and suddenly somebody comes in and says, "Hey! They want to do this thing at the AFI. Or a hand-and-feet ceremony at Grauman's." Well, I'm doing this. I don't understand. In terms of me, it didn't make any sense, none of it makes sense. What do I know?" (2005)

[Being chosen as People's Sexiest Man Alive 2003] is so absurd, you know. It's like on one level you're supposed to be flattered. But you know, you're basically chosen by nice people who don't spend time with you. I don't take it seriously. (Source: The Philippine Star, July 9, 2006)

Oh, I was absolutely shocked [on the Oscar nomination for POTC] - you know, completely shocked! The moment that it happened, I was doing the normal sort of routine in my house. I got up early with Jack... I go and make his bottle... the whole thing, you know. And then, I put on the television to go to the cartoon channels or whatever. At that very moment, they were just announcing the Oscar nominees. When they mentioned my name, I immediately got really violent with the remote control and surfed the cartoon channels. I was in a state of denial until I got the phone call confirming the news. So yeah, I was completely shocked. It didn't make sense to me. I thought I made a mistake somewhere in the movie. (Source: The Philippine Star, July 9, 2006)

I'm not really sure how this happened. You can ask anyone, I'm not a very funny person. -on winning MTV movie award for Best Comedic Performance for his portrayal as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. (Source: MTV Movie Awards, June 1, 2008)