Depp on "Wonderland," "Dark Shadows"

Steve "Frosty" Weintraub of Collider.com recently interview Johnny Depp (yes, THE Johnny Depp) and got some words out of the actor regarding his upcoming collaborations with friend Tim Burton: Alice in Wonderland and the big-screen adaptation of Dark Shadows. (Depp also discusses "Pirates 4" briefly in the interview.)

With enthusiasm, Depp confirmed that he will likely become Barnabas Collins. "Dark Shadows is happening," Depp said. "Tim is working on Alice in Wonderland which is obviously quite a large piece of work there. So when Tim is done with Alice and we get the script, which is very, very close, in order we'll probably attack it next year. It's exciting, very exciting. It's like a lifelong dream for me. I loved the show when I was a kid. I was obsessed with Barnabas Collins. I have photographs of me holding Barnabas Collins posters when I was five or six. I’m very excited to do it."



An image from the original television drama, "Dark Shadows." Depp hinted that tackling a feature-length adaptation of the show with Tim Burton might begin as soon as next year.

Johnny Depp also offered some information on Wonderland, just in time for the official debut of some of the film's characters and concept art:

Question: What kind of research did you for your role in Alice in Wonderland? Did you use the book or bring something outside of that to the character?

Depp: Well, certainly the book. The book is the basis for everything. There are little mysteries, little clues in the book that I found fascinating that were keys to at least my understanding of the Mad Hatter, like him saying, 'I'm investigating that begin with the letter M.' That was huge for me because when you do a little digging you realize you’re talking about a hatter, a man who made hats and if you go back and look at some of the historical hatters there’s that term that this guy or that guy is as mad as a hatter. There was a reason for that and the reason for that was mercury poisoning. So I found out what the M was and why they went nuts. So that became a huge thing. Then it was just kind of what I saw and what I thought the guy should look like. I made my little weird drawings and water colors and brought them to Tim [Burton] and he brought me his weird little drawings and water colors and they were not dissimilar [laughs]. You could've put them right together and they were pretty darn close. There’s a lot of color and brightness and then de-saturation in The Hatter. He’s like a mood ring I suppose.



Question: What's so special about your relationship with Tim? Is that he lets you do whatever you’d like as an actor?

Depp: Well, the most special thing is that he very luckily has given me about seven jobs. That's the most amazing thing. I’m looking forward to the eighth and ninth. There’s no real definition other than there is some kind of connection, some sort of understanding that Tim and I have that is at most times unspoken. Most people when they hear Tim give me direction or we’re talking about the character or something on the set, people are baffled. Completely befuddled and they don’t know what we’re talking about. A guy actually came to me one time after watching Tim and I talk for ten minutes and said, 'I didn't understand a word that you guys were saying.' So, yeah. I don't know. It's just one of those things that you don’t question, but I sure love him.