Loading ...
Actor Johnny Depp is a three-time Academy Award nominee known for his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as well as parts in films such as Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Alice in Wonderland. Depp landed his first movie role in the 1984 horror film Nightmare on Elm Street and rose to prominence a few years later when he began playing Tommy Hanson on the TV show 21 Jump Street. One of the most bankable actors in cinema, his once steady career stalled in the late 2010s after ex-wife Amber Heard alleged the actor physically and verbally abused her. Their subsequent defamation trial in 2022 garnered widespread attention.
The turn of the millennium marked the start of a prolific—and especially successful—period in Depp’s career. He appeared in the small but popular romantic drama Chocolate in 2000, followed by a big-budget role as real-life cocaine kingpin George Jung in Blow in 2001.
In 2003, Depp earned an Academy Award nomination for his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the family adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film was a box-office smash, fueling the creation of the Pirates franchise. The 2006 sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, broke a box-office record in reaching the highest weekend tally ever. The third installment fared well, too: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was released on Memorial Day weekend in 2007, bringing in $138.8 million. Two additional installments were released in 2011 and 2017, with Depp once again roving the high seas as Sparrow.
As the Pirates film series took off, Depp continued working across genres. In 2004, he turned in a critically acclaimed performance in Finding Neverland, in which he starred as Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie. The film earned him more than 10 award nominations, including both Academy and Golden Globe nods.