JOHNNY DEPP on 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND'

Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor for RadioFree.com
February 20, 2010

In 2010's Alice in Wonderland, director Tim Burton re-imagines the mythology born of Lewis Carroll's stories about a young girl named Alice and her adventures in a fantastical world filled with an eccentric cast of characters. In this updated incarnation, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the fairy tale world of her childhood as a young woman, only to find that the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has usurped her sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and subjugated all of Wonderland under her erratic rule. Lacking faith in herself and her own perception of reality, Alice teams up with old friends like the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) to regain her long lost self-confidence and free Wonderland from the Red Queen.

Alice in Wonderland utilizes a variety of techniques to present a signature visual experience. From obvious effects (the Red Queen's disproportionate head, Alice's ever-changing height) to subtle tweaks (the size of the Hatter's eyes, the length of the Knave's legs), the movie revels in creating a unique style with color, costuming, and perspective.

In this interview, Johnny Depp talks about his experience of working on the fairy tale epic.

MEDIA: What was your impetus for reuniting with Tim Burton for a seventh film, and what was attractive about playing the Mad Hatter?

JOHNNY: To be honest, he could have said Alice and I would have said yes. I would have done whatever character Tim wanted. But certainly, the fact that it was the Mad Hatter was a bonus because of the great challenge to try to find this guy and not just be a rubber ball that you heave into an empty room and watch bounce all over the place--to find that part of the character, but also a little bit more of the history or gravity to the guy.

How did your ongoing relationship with Tim grow during your time on Alice in Wonderland?

I was Tim's worst nightmare. [laughs] Each time out of the gate, especially with Tim, the initial thing for me is to obviously come up with a character. But then there's a certain amount of pressure where I go, "Jesus, will this be the one where I disappoint him?" So I try really hard, especially early on, to come up with something that's very different, that he hasn't experienced before, and that we haven't experienced together before, and that will stimulate and inspire him to make choices based on that character. I try not to embarrass him, basically.

The Hatter's manic behavior has moments of tragedy in it...

There's the whole Hatter's dilemma really, which is where the term "mad as a hatter" came from--the amount of mercury that they used in the glue to make the hats was damaging. So in terms of looking at Hatter from that perspective--as this guy who is literally, physically, and emotionally damaged goods, and a little obtuse--I took that and decided that as opposed to just this hyper, nutty guy, he should explore all sides of the personality at an extreme level. So he could go, from one second, being very highfalutin with a lot of levity, and then straight into some kind of dangerous potential rage, and then tragedy. It was really interesting trying to map it out.

Having created so many memorable characters, do you have to do a quick retrospective on them and make sure you're not repeating yourself?

You definitely have to, I mean, I've played English a number of times, and used an English accent a number of times, so it becomes a little bit of an obstacle course to go, "Oh, that's teetering into Captain Jackville" or "This one is teetering over into Chocolat or Wonka." You've got to really pay attention to the places you've been. But hopefully, also, that's part of it. That's the great challenge. You may get it wrong. There's a very good possibility that you can fall flat on your face. But again, I think that's a healthy thing for an actor.

Was the Hatter's happy dance part of your own arsenal of moves?

No. Tim had a very curious vision for the happy dance. And I can futterwack with the best of them.

Were a lot of mirrors required to prepare for that scene?

[laughs] No. I tend to avoid mirrors at all costs. We had to treat that like a stunt.



What appeals to you about 19th century fantasy literature?

I just adore it, from certainly J.M. Barrie and the wonderful characters he created to Lewis Carroll, but even French literature. When you read Baudelaire, or over in the States, Poe, it's like Tim said about Lewis Carroll...You open those books, or you open The Flowers of Evil, and you begin to read, and if it were written today, you'd be absolutely stupefied by the work. It's this incredible period where the work is timeless and ageless. So yes, I love all those guys. It's my deep passion, those great 19th century writers.

What was your first exposure to Lewis Carroll's stories about Alice, and how did that impact you?

Even though you can't quite place when the book or the story came into your life, I do remember vaguely, maybe when I was roughly 5 years old, reading versions of Alice in Wonderland. But the thing is the characters. You always know the characters. Everyone knows the characters, and they're very well-defined characters, which I always thought was so fascinating. Most people who haven't read the book definitely know the characters and reference them. For me, I went back (ironically, it was only maybe a year prior to Tim calling) and I had re-read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and what I took away from it was all these very strange little cryptic nuggets that he'd thrown in there, and I was really intrigued by them and became fascinated by them because they were asking questions that couldn't be answered almost, or were making statements that you couldn't quite understand, like "I'm investigating things that begin with the letter M." That took me through a whole stratosphere of possibilities. And then doing a little research and discovering that the M is mercury...And then, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Those things just became so important to the character and you realize it the more you read the book. If I read the book again today, I'd find a hundred other things that I missed the last time. So it's constantly changing, the book.

What film of yours is your children's favorite?

It's funny because they've seen it, but they have a difficult time watching it because it's their dad and they make that connection. Edward Scissorhands is, by far, my kiddies' favorite. They connect with the character, and also I think they see their dad feeling that isolation and loneliness. He's a tragic character, so it's hard for them. [laughs] They bawl when they see that.

If the next project presented to you required a motion capture suit, would you do it?

[jokes] I don't know. What color is the suit? Black? Well, it matches my eyes. I suppose. I don't care. I mean, I'll put anything on. It doesn't matter to me, obviously. [laughs, gestures to his own clothes] Look at me. No, I don't mind.

Has the course of your career ever felt like a Wonderland type of experience?

My whole experience on the ride since day one has been pretty surreal in this business and defies logic. I'm still completely shocked that I still get jobs and am still around. But I guess more than anything, it has been kind of a wonderland. I've been very lucky.

Did you ever have designs that your career would reach this magnitude some day?

No, not at all. I had no idea where anything was going. But it's almost impossible to predict anything like that. I had no idea. Truly, I felt after I had done Crybaby with John Waters and Edward Scissorhands with Tim that they were going to cut me off right then, you know what I mean? I had felt at that point [that] I was on solid ground and I knew where I was going and where I wanted to go, and I was sure that they would nix me out of the gig. But luckily, I'm still here.