Johnny Depp is one of the coolest and most diverse actors of his generation. Despite never winning an Oscar, the three-time nominee has played some of the most memorably eccentric characters in the history of cinema. During the 90s, no actor outside of maybe Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey had a more fecund body of work.
In addition to his longlasting partnership with Tim Burton, Depp has worked such great directors as Michael Mann, Jim Jarmusch, Terry Gilliam, Lasse Hallstrom, Ted Demme, and more. Under their watch, Depp has given many great performances over his career. Here are the 10 best!
John Dillinger (Public Enemies)
One of the most admirable aspects of Depp’s career is that he never shies away from playing real-life characters, dead or alive. Considering such, Depp gives a thoroughly human portrait of a bank-robbing gangster in Public Enemies!
Directed by Michael Mann, the film charts the criminal endeavors of John Dillinger in the 1930s. Cold, precise and unsentimental, Depp plays the part unlike a larger-than-life gangster. He dials it back, giving us an understanding of his love of Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) while G-Man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) hotly pursues him.
George Jung (Blow)
In the late great Ted Demme’s Blow, Depp plays yet another real-life character. This time, he plays George Jung with the utmost believability, a cocaine-dealing impresario who becomes too big for his britches as time goes on.
What makes this Depp turn so inspired is that, unlike many of his movies, he emotes with his eyes and face rather than hide behind a ton of makeup and wild costuming. As a real-life person he surely felt responsible to represent correctly, Depp soars as a drug-kingpin who loses his way. The scenes with him and his father (Ray Liotta) ache with pathos!
William Blake (Dead Man)
In his first time working with indie-auteur Jim Jarmusch, Depp went to extraordinary depths to play Dead Man, aka William Blake, a timorous and tight-lipped accountant on the lam after murdering a man.
As a man of few words, Depp almost gives an entirely silent performance as he hops on a river-raft and begins floating through a surreal terrain of Native American reveries. As Blake bleeds out and evades his captors, he experiences a spiritual vision quest of sorts that offers poetic clarity.
J.M. Barrie (Finding Neverland)
Depp kept the trend of playing real-life characters alive in Finding Neverland, giving an Oscar-nominated, emotionally powerful performance that won’t leave a dry eye in the theater.
As the author who would go on to pen Peter Pan, Depp plays Barrie with childlike innocence and waggish demeanor unlike we’ve seen before. His interactions with the children in the movie are genuinely moving, and the delivery with which Depp gives the last line of the film is just as magical as the fiction Barrie would go on to create.
Hunter S. Thompson (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas)
Gonzo is the best word to describe Depp’s blistering turn as the booze-fueled and drug-addled journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, in the intoxicating film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas!
With a bald pate, beer-belly, oversized sunglasses, and ridiculous wardrobe, Depp fully embodies his longtime pal, Hunter S. Thompson, in the film. With the manic mannerisms, hilarious vocal tone, spastic body gestures, and undying penchant for any kind of drink or drug, Depp gives one of his most outlandish turns to date!
Joe Pistone (Donnie Brasco)
Fuh-get about it! If Depp’s commanding turn as undercover cop Joe Pistone isn’t among his best performances, what the heck is?
Upstaging his screen partner Al Pacino, Depp has rarely been better on-screen as a conflicted police officer whose moral core erodes under the seductive sway of the Italian mafia. In yet another real-life character, Depp plays Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who cannot walk the straight and narrow after infiltrating a NYC mob affiliate. The deeper into the mob he becomes, the further he’s driven away from his family.
Gilbert (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape)
While Leo DiCaprio had the showier role as the title character’s mentally impaired little brother, without Depp’s painfully heartfelt turn, the whole of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape would suffer greatly.
At first blush, Gilbert’s a bit of a cipher. He isn’t sure of who he is or what he wants, he only knows that he’s trapped in the small town he grew up in, and likely forever consigned to looking after his overweight mother and ill brother. But when Gilbert meets the free-spirited Becky (Juliette Lewis), his outlook on life changes forever. A deeply soulful and sorrowful performance!
Ed Wood (Ed Wood)
Ed Wood is arguably Tim Burton’s best movie, and the reason why is Depp’s transformative turn as the exuberant and wildly delusional B-movie director.
Labeled the worst film director of all time, what Wood lacked in talent he more than made up for in bubbly enthusiasm. His unencumbered love of moviemaking, despite being devoid of skill or resources necessary to excel, is infectious throughout the picture. Depp perfectly nails Wood’s affectations, down to the permanent smile and cartoonish voice.
Edward (Edward Scissorhands)
In his first collaboration with Tim Burton, a partnership that would last decades, Depp gave one of his all-time best performances as the soft-hearted and tortured soul, Edward Scissorhands.
What makes this performance so special, aside from coming so early in Depp’s film career, is the emotive range Depp scales merely with his eyes and face. Even under a mound of makeup, Depp’s soul shines through as Edward, a timid victim of circumstance. The gawky body language and physical awkwardness Depp imbues is first-rate!
Jack Sparrow (Pirates Of The Caribbean)
Speaking of first-rate, it’d be hard to argue against Jack Sparrow being Depp’s number one performance of his career. Not only did Depp earn his first Oscar nomination for the role in 2003, but the sheer breadth of the character played over five films is too comprehensive to omit from the top spot.
In a role tailor-made for Depp, he brings to life the drunk pirate Jack Sparrow in the mega Disney tentpole. He slurs, stumbles, and swash-buckles his way through a parade of sordid characters, lending just as much humor as he does heart!
