When Edward was wrapped Johnny began on a strange part of his life. He did a short cameo on the new Freddy’s Dead as a thank you for the start in his career . Immediately after this Winona and Johnny’s relationship ended and it ended publicly, which made it harder for Johnny. The press was very unkind and as usual, a lot of news was sread that was totally untrue. Johnny said about this time following in his life, “It was a really lonely time for me, I did feel very lost at times and confused about everything. I poisoned my self by drinking, smoking, I didn’t eat right, no sleep, lots of cigarettes?..I did feel very lost at times, confused about everything.” Another important quote of Johnny’s from that time, addresses his loneliness, ” Being lonely is scary, I’ve been lonely many times.” In the midst of his personal life problems, Johnny began to go back to work and wanted to show his ability and versatility by choosing a role that he felt could become a part of him.
Johnny decided to take his next role all the way on the other side of the fence, with the film, “Arizona Dream.” Which he chose because of his fondness for another director, Emir Kusturica.
The film was put on hold for a couple of months and Johnny went back to his music roots by making a guest appearance on Tom Patty’s music video, “The Great Wide Open,” which has become a cult favorite in the Depp world of fans. By the time the video was completed, it was time to start on the film. In Arizona Dream, Johnny plays Alex Blackmar, who was a twenty year old young man who was orphaned as a child when his parents were killed in a car crash. Johnny was more than happy to work with another director that would allow him to stretch and improve his ideas throughout the script. Playing another character that could be considered an oddball or outcast was especially appealing to Johnny who said in an interview, ” What interests me is that so-called “normal” society considers them outcasts or on the fringe, or oddballs?I see them as receivers. I’ve identified with them since I was very young” The endeavor of filming was choppy at best and had some hang-ups but in the end was a great experience for Johnny. The influence of Kusturica was said to show in Johnny ,who some people interpreted as changing to please others, but in a sense Johnny was beginning to search for his true self. This showed in the change of clothing and jewelry he wore. Before the film was even finished Johnny made on of his first trips to France to help promote the film at the Cannes Festival (1992) with Kusterica. This was a good place for the film when it was released, it enjoyed great success in France and it has also had a great cult following on DVD.
Johnny’s next project would further the opinion that he liked to take the off the wall characters on that next level. When Johnny first signed on to do the character in “Benny and Joon,” he was more than pleased to be able to work on another film with a director that was unknown and more than willing to hear his input and view of the way that he saw the character himself. The character of Sam was just too much for Johnny to resist. Sam was a wonderful challenge for Johnny who could continue to draw on his fondness for the silent film era. Sam was living in a world influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, this was right along the lines of Johnny’s interest in the silent comedy starts of the past. Johnny said, ” I had such a great time rediscovering Keaton, Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. Comedy, especially when it is so physical, is extremely demanding. I developed an even greater respect for those guys, as I began to try to do what they had accomplished in such a seemingly effortless way? I enjoyed the slapstick parts for the movie although I sustained some injuries.”
After Benny and Joon wrapped, Johnny was beginning to get a lot of scripts that he felt were sent to him because of his kooky, offbeat persona, he didn’t want to be labeled, but when he read the script for Gilbert Grape, he knew that this was a role he would have to play. When the writer of the novel and script, Peter Hedges, met Johnny, he remembered; “When I met him, he was this very quiet, really shy guy who was teaching us magic tricks and I thought,, ‘ok he could be Gilbert.’ He comes with this physical beauty that’s just astonishing and at the same time he has no interest in being that.” Johnny was instantly in tune with what the character of Gilbert needed. He understood the “numbness that he had to have, so that he’s not affected too much by everything. There are things in my life that parallel things in Gilbert’s life.” 
Gilbert Grape was a young man who had his world sprawling around him and yet found a way to cope and deal with his situation by pulling down deep and finally opening up to the reality of what is and CAN be in his life. Johnny put so much time and emotion in his characters development, he dug down deep into the psychological aspects of what Gilbert himself would be feeling. “Pure love and devotion that turns into a kind of resentment and unhappiness that is shameful to admit.” said Johnny. During the filming of the movie, Johnny was experiencing his own emotional and mental confusion and misery. He talked about it years later when he was able to open up about this time in his life, “It was a hard time for me- I was having a weird time myself, but I was trying to escape from my own brain; I didn’t know what was right and what was wrong, I didn’t know who was and who wasn’t..it was all very confusing. I don’t know if I subconsciously made myself miserable for a little bit because I knew that’s what the character needed, or if it was just what I had to deal with at that particular time.” Unbeknownst to Johnny, his life was about to experience more personal pain to dump on top of what he was already feeling.
The biography up to and including “Serious acting” is now under copywrite and trademark by Johnny-Depp.org and Laura Elizabeth Cline, (lizzy4depp). It may not be used without credit on any other work or website.
Thanks to Martina for allowing me to write and her help and support and to Beth for helping with research. Also to Just_Me for writing parts of the old biography here.
Sources for this new biography are “Johnny Depp A Modern Rebel by Brian j. Robb”,
“Johnny Depp an illustrated Biography by Nick Johnstone”, “The secret world of Johnny Depp by Nigel Goodall” and “Depp” by Christopher Heard, as well as different interviews seen and read through the years.