Depp deserves buzz

Sitting there, lighting a cigarette with studied casualness, Johnny Depp looked like the essence of movie-star cool.

This was in 1993, and we were in some backstage screening room near the old MGM complex in Culver City. Depp, who was then just 29, wasn’t that far removed from his “21 Jump Street” days in which he played a narc.

But there was nothing narcish about Depp on this day.

The occasion was a press event in support of “Benny & Joon,” the Jeremiah Chechik-directed film co-starring Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn and Julianne Moore that had been shot in Spokane. Quinn and Moore were nowhere to be seen, but there Depp was, slouching between Chechik and Masterson, acting vaguely James Deanish when answering the questions tossed at him.

They weren’t exactly demanding queries. Most of those in attendance – I was the lone adult – were college journalists, kids from the Los Angeles area who were being given their big chance to meet with movie stars.

Depp, who clearly had better things to do, was the consummate professional. He was polite, respectful and willing to entertain the most lightweight questions – “How do you pick your movie roles?” “What was it like working with Mary?” “What sign are you?” – with far more seriousness than each deserved.

If he was acting, then it may have been his greatest challenge.

In fact, it was probably a lot harder to put in that half hour or so of publicity than it was to play Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie in the film “Finding Neverland,” which played in Spokane last weekend as a sneak preview (it opens Nov. 12).

The results were certainly a lot more successful.

According to a recent New York Times story, Hollywood is having a hard time finding films worth rewarding with Oscars. Even among the many art films that have played throughout the year, none has been attracting any real buzz.

And, says Times writer Sharon Waxman, “the need for buzz, any kind of buzz, is very real, and a sure sign of Oscar desperation.”

Last year, Depp was at the heart of that buzz. His turn as Capt. Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” won him his first Oscar nomination.

Depp didn’t win (the award went, as expected, to Sean Penn for “Mystic River”), but he established himself as Oscar-

worthy in a role that would have been so easy to over- or underplay. His Jack Sparrow was the perfect balance between comedy and poignant anti-

heroism. The fact that he played the character as if he were impersonating Keith Richards only added to the performance’s offbeat charm.

But choosing offbeat roles has been the story of Depp’s movie career. Look at his “mini biography” on the Internet Movie Database ( www.imdb.com) and you’ll see him described as a “serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer.”

In several of the roles he has played over the course of his career, Depp has proven that he can bring something to a character that overshadows virtually anyone else in the film frame. For example:

1990: In Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands,” Depp plays a boy created by a lonely scientist (Vincent Price) who dies before he is able to give the boy hands, which are left as virtual pruning shears. Without uttering a single word, Depp is able to imbue Edward with a sense of sadness that makes Winona Ryder redundant.

1995: In “Don Juan DeMarco,” Depp plays a man pretending to be the world’s greatest lover so effectively that he’s able even to positively affect the psychiatrist (Marlon Brando) treating him.

1997: While playing the FBI agent infiltrating the mob with the help of Al Pacino in “Donnie Brasco,” Depp was able to master the many meanings of the phrase “fuggetaboudit.”

2003: As another kind of government agent altogether, Depp brings just the right feeling of inherent psychopathy and likeability to Robert Rodriguez’s film “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.”

It’s clear that Depp is best at roles that force him to summon an interior kind of energy that doesn’t seem to come naturally.

Sometimes, Depp tends to nearly disappear – as he did in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” (1993), “The Ninth Gate” (1999), “Chocolat” (2000) and, most recently, “Finding Neverland” – and the overall film suffers.

It’s only a matter of time, though, before Depp finds the right Oscar role for his particular talents.

He’s too naturally cool not to.