Johnny Depp is on the cover of July's Vanity Fair, and inside he opens up about his new movie, Public Enemies, his family, and his private Caribbean island called Little Hall's Pond Cay. He took one of the magazine's writers along for a trip to the area, sharing details about the joy he finds just being there. Here's more:On his private island, Little Hall’s Pond Cay "I don’t think I'd ever seen any place so pure and beautiful . . . You can feel your pulse rate drop about 20 beats. It's instant freedom. And that rare beast — simplicity — can be had. And a little morsel of anonymity . . . Whenever I was getting frustrated about being 'novelty boy' and making movies, I told myself, Calm down. I can come down here and disappear. I spent the Christmas season here with Vanessa and the kids. You can feed hot dogs to the nurse sharks in the Exumas — but it's best to not swim when doing it."
On his love of painting: "When I can focus on something like guitar or painting, I do . . . I started painting people I admire, like Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Nelson Algren, Marlon Brando, Patti Smith, my girl, my kids. I painted Hunter a couple of times. Keith Richards. What I love to do is paint people’s faces, y'know, their eyes. Because you want to find that emotion, see what’s going on behind their eyes."
On keeping the island for his family: "Nobody is going to ever ruin the Land and Sea Park. It's like a rare gem, a diamond. I look forward to my kids growing up on the island, spending months out of the year here . . . learning about sea life and how to protect sea life . . . and their kids growing up here, and so on . . . Theoretically, this place can add years to your life . . . Money doesn't buy you happiness. But it buys you a big enough yacht to sail right up to it."
On Tom Cruise's performance in Tropic Thunder: "That's the best I've ever seen Cruise." When asked if Cruise’s portrayal reminds Depp of any Hollywood executives, he says, "All of them."
picture and story by vanity fair
