On May 27, 1999, something happened that turned Johnny’s life around, something that would never let him be the same ‘wild boy’ of his youth ever again. He was a father. Depp announced that fatherhood gave him “real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything.” He had also made a decision that he would TRY to act in films which his children could watch, later on. Lily-Rose Melody Depp changed Johnny’s life, much as he gave her hers.
However, fatherhood did not keep Johnny from his film career. After putting the finishing touches on The Astronaut’s Wife, a movie in which he plays an astronaut who is possesed by aliens, ohnny moved on to shoot a seventeen minute role in Chocolat, playing a guitar playing gypsy. Johnny also contributed to the movie’s soundtrack. As the new millenium crashed down upon them, Johnny put on his women’s clothes and played a minor role in Before Night Falls, as a transexual, and also a liutenant.
He did two more movies, From Hell, and also The Man Who Cried, a film that earned a low box office gross, due to it’s straight to DVD limited release, before teaming up with Penelope Cruz to film Blow, where he was a drug dealer, whose duty as a father often got into the way with his drug dealings. He again acted in an action movie, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, playing Inspector Sheldon Sands.
On April 9, 2002, Johnny’s family of three expanded to four, as Johnny “Jack” Christopher Depp III was born. Johnny was exhilarated, “You can’t plan the kind of deep love that results in children. Fatherhood was not a conscious decision. It was part of the wonderful ride I was on. It was destiny; kismet. All the math finally worked.” , he claimed. However, after fatherhood, Johnny would move on to what would be his biggest role, the one that brought the name Johnny Depp to the lips of every child, teenager and adult.
Gore Verbinski’s Pirates Of The Caribbean was expected to be any other Disney movie, maybe even worse than some, as it was based on a Disneyland theme park amusement ride, even named after it. Johnny got the role, however, he raised many director’s eyebrows on the set as he tweaked the design of Jack Sparrow until it satisfied him. “Drunk and gay! That’s what I thought at first. A gay pirate, noticably tipsy, I wanted to shoot the man!” exclaimed a trustee. However, Johnny and his supporters stuck to his modified Jack Sparrow until the movie released, and floods poured into theatres to see the “drunk, hilarious, and maybe even vulgar” pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny himself was nominated for thirteen awards all over the world, five of which he won. Captain Jack Sparrow had made his mark, and he would indeed return.
It was around this period that Johnny was famous for two more things, other than acting. One was his alleged comments about the U.S, as he wanted his children “to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out.” However, Johnny vehemently declined that he ever said this. Johnny also started appearing even more in magazines, hundreds of magazine covers plastered with his face, as he regained his ‘superstar’ status. This time, he wasn’t famous for being the “wild boy”, or the “womanizer” or even the “teen heartthrob.” This time he was “Hollywood’s It-Man”, “Man of the Hour” and “Sexiest Pirate Ever”, all three being magazine headlines. However, Johnny started appearing on the Forbes magazine, under Highest Paid Actor, and usually in the top ten of “Richest Actors Ever.”
In 2005, when his friend and mentor, Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide, Johnny arranged to have his ashes shot from a cannon, as he requested.
Johnny starred next in Finding Neverland, a film about the author of Peter Pan, J.M.Barrie. It was in this movie he met Freddie Highmore, a talented young actor he would nominate for his next film. Johnny fast forwarded to (or turned back time to?) The Libertine, a dark, brooding film about the Earl Of Rochester, back in the 17th century, filled with gritty scenes. He next did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a movie on the classic tale by Roald Dahl, in which he nominated Freddie Highmore, whom he met on Finding Neverland, to play the title role of Charlie, while Johnny himself played a “squeaky, germophobic Wonka.” In the same year, Johnny collaborated with Tim Burton (yes, once again) to film (or to lend a voice to) Corpse Bride, him voicing the nervous Victor Van Dort, a role many compared to that of his Ichabod Crane.
Johnny’s life seemed perfect. A lasting relationship with his girlfriend, two adorable children, money pouring in, and film roles being offered here and there. Oh yes, Jack Sparrow would return, along with a singing barber from Fleet Street.