Presentation Script

How far would it be said that Johnny Depp is a method actor when it comes to developing his character for his roles.


Projector; Image of Johnny Depp (Item 16) 
Speaker; As seen in the previous image Johnny Depp is known for taking on roles where the character is very eccentric, playing characters where the characters require a great deal of preparation and characterisation. One of my focus films is Alice in Wonderland (Item 1), his character who is the Mad Hatter is the pinnacle of madness and main characterisation comes from his clothes and his demeanour, the Hatter is often said to be Depp's best characterisation. 


Projector; Clip of Johnny Depp as the Mad-hatter (Item 1)


Speaker; As seen in the clip above you can see the process that Depp takes to get into his character, with him using watercolours to create his image for the character. He did research on Hatters and found that they became mad on mercury and that it would stain their hands so he designed his character accordingly with his skin being bleached white and his curly vibrant ginger hair. This also impacted the physicality to his character, with his mannerisms and the way he acts. Which can also be seen in the clip, he has very jerky wild movements and he walks almost dream like. This by means makes him a method actor because of the way he got into character with his research. Within an interview (Item 5) he explained how he had "picked his poison" with this character, When he takes on a role, Johnny Depp often paints a watercolour portrait of the still-forming character to help find his face and personality of the character. Johnny Depp uses clothes as another one of his methods to characterise a character he is playing"Depp looked down at the Mad Hatter staring back at him from the canvas and giggled"(item 5) He uses the characters clothing to determine a personality that the character possess and uses the clothes as a solid foundation to build off. This example is carried through by a number of different characters he has played from Sweeney Todd and Edward Scissorhands to t
he Mad hatter and Captain Jack Sparrow, each of these characters has an outfit that makes their character. "to have that layer of that character, to feel their skin, it helps you find your posture as that character" (Item 12)


Within the Alice in Wonderland (item 1) film there is a scene where the Mad Hatter is having a tea party, within this scene there are key elements that present themselves that prove that Depp is a method actor, within this scene the first key thing that you notice about this character is his bright orange curly hair, Depp said in an interview that this become a incredibly important detail,"The 46-year-old actor said his Hatter’s springy mass of tangerine hair became a particularly important detail because of one of the suspected origins of the term “Mad as a hatter."" (Item 5) The curly hair is a trait in hatters as it is a sign of mercury poisoning which is why is he is as mad as he is as a character, Depp's Mad Hatter also “was poisoned  — very, very poisoned,” Depp said. “And I think it just took affect in all his nerves. It was coming out through his hair and through his fingernails, through his eyes”