Several years back， Johnny Depps longtime partner Tim Burton famously called him “a character actor in a leading mans body”. The description is so simple that its tempting to suggest that Johnny Depps works containing just those eight words alongside a photographic history of the actors career would be a respectable undertaking. Hopefully， however， there is something more to be gleaned from this retrospective of Depps cinematic works.

So what can one hope to learn about Johnny Depp？ Its fair to say that we have never seen Depps like before—this is a film star who has repeatedly shown himself capable of turning mainstream films into global blockbusters， but who still seems unwilling to use these hit movies as career building blocks in any conventional manner.

Any other actor blessed with Depps Apollonian looks would likely have set his sights on trying to become the next Paul Newman （an archetypal model that only a handful of todays male stars could even aspire to）. But each of the potential actors is burdened with at least one disqualifying role： George Clooney？ Looks the part， but too knowing. Ryan Gosling？ A peerless young actor who lacks the iconic presence of a genuine movie star—not that hes likely to lose any sleep over that. Matt Damon？ Too “everyman”. Brad Pitt？ A heavyweight talent smothered by tabloid attention.

Johnny Depp， on the other hand， seems to earn “Best Actor of His Generation” plaudits whenever he takes on a serious dramatic role—but he seems equally engaged by the challenge of giving new life to Captain Jack Sparrow， the weird and cowardly “hero” of Pirates of the Caribbean. Even though Depp turns 50， there is still something of the teenager about him： a distinct sense that he chooses projects according to how much fun hell have making them， and in many cases how much confusion they will cause among his followers， and the countless media experts who are paid to impose a rational pattern on the “choices” made by stars of Depps wattage.

Searching for some long-term pattern within Depps body of work is a fairly thankless task； perhaps because of the haphazard manner in which he entered the movie industry， he seems positively to revel in the random， picking out his projects with the proverbial whim of iron， which is just as likely to lead to a questionable remake like Tim Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as it is to Depps arresting dual-character cameo in Before Night Falls.

幾年前，約翰尼·德普的老搭檔蒂姆·伯頓曾形容他是一位“擁有男主角外貌的個性演員”。這句簡明有力的評價讓人們相信，約翰尼·德普的作品不僅是他英俊的外表與個性鮮明的完美融合，更是一份對于德普演藝生涯的影視珍藏。但是，我們從德普的影視作品中看到了更多。

那么，我們可以期待從約翰尼·德普的身上學到什么呢？公正地講，約翰尼·德普絕對算得上是一位開創(chuàng)了先例的演員。他總能將一部主流電影化為世界級大片，但他卻似乎不愿像其他人一樣，將這些成功的電影簡單地當作自己演藝道路上的奠基石。

任何一個幸運地擁有德普那阿波羅般外貌的演員總會將自己的目標定為下一個保羅·紐曼（一位即使在現在，也只有很少幾位男明星可以望其項背的模范）。而這些有潛力的演員或多或少都會扮演過那么一兩個不怎么樣的角色：喬治·克魯尼，風格單一，一眼看穿；瑞恩·高斯林，一位非凡的演員，但缺少作為電影明星應具備的存在感標志，而他本人卻并不以為意；馬特·達蒙，未免普通了些；布拉德·皮特，稱得上一位重量級巨星，可正被狗仔隊逼得抓狂了。

而另一方面，約翰尼·德普呢？似乎他的每一次出演，都會獲得“當代最佳男演員”的稱贊。但他卻直面挑戰(zhàn)，接手了杰克·斯帕羅船長這樣一個加勒比海上古怪又有點懦弱的另類英雄角色，并為其注入了新的生命。盡管德普已年逾五十，但他始終保留著自己孩子氣的一面：挑選角色時，總會本能地選擇那些有趣的角色，這角色能在影迷中引起多大的反響？能讓媒體多么的費盡腦汁來給這個德普式選擇加上一個合理的解釋呢？

要想從德普的影視作品中找出一個他固守的長期模式絕對是一件吃力不討好的事情。也許我們該把這歸結為他進入電影行業(yè)后所展現的偶然性。他總是一時興起，靠自己拿眾所周知的靈光一閃選擇劇本，這也就是為什么他會不管其他人的質疑，選擇已被觀眾熟知的角色再造的原因。例如蒂姆·伯頓指導的電影《查理和他的巧克力工廠》，也就可以解釋，他在《夜幕降臨前》中所飾演的配角身上那抓人眼球的雙重性格了。