Johnny Depp timeline: The actor’s career and what he’s been up to since the ‘Depp vs Heard’ documentary aired on Channel 4

Johnny Depp has spent most of his life in the public spotlight.

The actor first became famous with 21 Jump Street in 1987 before embarking on a successful Hollywood career in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Donnie Brasco And Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

However, in recent years, Depp has been embroiled in a number of controversies. Last year he engaged in a highly public court battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard over his allegations that she defamed him. Heard, an actress best known for her role in the DC Comics adaptation AquamanHe accused Depp of domestic violence in his testimony during the trial. Depp denied the allegations.

On June 2, 2022, the jury finally ruled in Depp’s favor. The ex-couple’s trial and relationship are explored in the new Channel 4 documentary Depp vs. Heardaired Sunday 21 May.

After the trial, Depp was spotted on stage with musician Jeff Beck on several tour dates. At the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Depp presented his first film project since the trial: a French-language drama Jeanne du Barry.

The actor broke down in tears after receiving a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere. Jeanne du Barry received mixed reviews from critics, with The IndependentGeoffrey MacNab gives the film four stars.

Heard supporters have protested Depp’s inclusion in the festival. At a press conference, Depp claimed he was “boycotted” by Hollywood after the trial.

Before the lawsuit, Depp was best known for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise.

He was also known for leading roles in films including Edward with the scissor hands, Charlie and the Charlie Chocolate Factory, The Lone Ranger And The rum diary.

Depp also played villain Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spin-off series Fantastic Beasts. However, he left the franchise in late 2020 and was replaced in the third entry (The Secrets of Dumbledore) by Mads Mikkelsen.

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During the Depp vs. Heard At the trial, Depp spoke about his childhood and his tumultuous relationship with his parents.

Depp was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensburg, Kentucky, the youngest of four children. His parents were Betty Sue Wells, a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer.

The Depp family moved frequently in his early life, and the actor later told Oprah Winfrey that he moved “maybe 40 times” before he was 15.

“My mother liked to move,” he said. “Once we moved from one house to the neighboring house.”

When Depp was about seven years old, the family moved to South Florida.

Depp described the lifestyle for him and his siblings as “kind of normal,” adding, “We didn’t know anything else.”

In 1997 he remembered it Hello! magazine When he was 12, his parents “always fought” and he “hardly had any contact with the outside world”.

“As soon as I got my guitar, I would lock myself in my room after school every day and do nothing but play until I fell asleep,” he said.

In 1978, when Depp was 15, his parents divorced. Betty Sue remarried a man named Robert Palmer, whom Depp would later describe United States today as a “really cool guy” who “spent about half his life in prison.”

Depp traveled to California in 1983 to pursue a music career, eventually turning to acting on the advice of young Nicolas Cage.

During the ongoing legal battle with Amber Heard, Depp opened up about his childhood and claimed he and his siblings were abusive at the hands of his mother.

“[Depp’s mother] “I had the ability to be as cruel as anyone can be,” he said, pointing out that this also applied to his siblings and father. “She was pretty violent and she was pretty cruel.”

Describing his mother’s violence, Depp said “an ashtray” could be “hurled at you,” and claimed that she would hit her children on the head and that sometimes she had “a high-heeled shoe or a phone or whatever handy.” used.

The actor claimed the family was shocked and that his siblings instinctively shielded themselves when their mother walked by because they “didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Meanwhile, he described his father as “good-natured”, “shy” and “stoic”. The court testimony also alleged that Depp’s father beat him with a belt at his mother’s behest.

After Depp’s father abandoned the family, his mother fell into a “deep, dark depression,” according to Depp, with the actor claiming she survived a suicide attempt when he was a teenager.

Betty Sue Palmer died in 2016 after a long illness.

The first episode of Depp vs. Heard will be broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 21 May at 9pm.