THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504080030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
MARLON BRANDO AND Johnny Depp?
Stanley Kowalski co-starring with Edward Scissorhands?
It has happened in ``Don Juan DeMarco,'' a romantic comedy in which Brando, the legendary actor of Hollywood's past, passes the torch to Depp, the new-generation star who takes risks with quirky characters rather than playing more bankable lead roles.
Asked about the Brando connection, Depp blushed. He actually blushed.
``Working with Marlon is the greatest thing that's happened in my life,'' said Depp. ``I mean, where do you go from here? Who would have thought? Marlon is not a myth. He's everything people think he is. He's not old, either. I can't think of him as a 70-year-old man. He's like a 70-year-old child. A child genius.''
``Don Juan DeMarco,'' currently in theaters, is the latest in Depp's list of eccentric, unexpected characters that have quickly established him as a favorite of the critics. His winning streak began with ``Edward Scissorhands,'' progressed through the off-beat love story of ``Benny and Joon,'' ``What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' and ``Ed Wood.'' But while critics raved about ``Ed Wood,'' it was a box office flop.
Some have suggested that Depp needs to pull a Keanu Reeves move and do a mainstream hit like ``Speed'' to ensure his bankability.
``I don't know how I'd do that,'' Depp said, shaking his head as he lit a cigarette. ``For example, I knew `Indecent Proposal' would be a big hit, but, then, wasn't `Hudson Hawk' supposed to be big, too? I can't judge them, and I don't want to try. There have been a lot of scripts I just didn't want to do. That, as it turns out, was lucky. I mean, I'm lucky that I didn't do them. The only reason `Ed Wood' isn't considered mainstream is that it didn't make it. I mean, it's a mainstream movie. Ed Wood was an ordinary guy.''
``Don Juan DeMarco'' stars Depp as a young man who thinks he is the great lover Don Juan. When we meet him, he freely and without cockiness explains that he has made love to more than 1,000 women. The young man is promptly committed to an insane asylum where he easily seduces all the nurses.
Brando plays his doctor, Dr. Jack Mickler, a burned-out therapist who is just marking time until retirement. Before long, patient and doctor somewhat reverse roles as Mickler's long-dormant love for his wife (Faye Dunaway) is also revived.
It's a risky part. If people don't laugh, they might be mystified, or even irritated, at the role.
Dunaway, an Oscar winner for ``Network,'' found it a revelation to watch Depp and Brando. ``The kid really has talent,'' she said. ``He has a craft. He's the heir apparent. It was like Marlon was passing the torch to him - from one generation to the next. As for Marlon, I had never worked with him before. He's a revelation. He's so down-to-earth. So savvy. So real.''
``Don Juan DeMarco'' was written in an abandoned Connecticut barn by a former therapist, Jeremy Leven. Leven pushed it as a low-budget little film, with a price tag of about $3 million, and he wanted to direct it himself - in spite of the fact that he had never directed a movie before.
Francis Ford Coppola became one of the producers and went along with Leven's desire to direct. Everything changed when Johnny Depp signed on and recommended Brando for the role of the doctor. Unbelievably, Brando was interested.
``My little $3 million movie suddenly cost $20 million,'' Leven said, ``and I ended up directing Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway in my first movie. Actually, the costs were kept down when Brando said he would do it. Every actor in Hollywood suddenly wanted to be in it - and at a fraction of their usual price. They just wanted to work with Brando.
``I didn't have time to be intimidated by Marlon. We had to move fast. Marlon doesn't walk up to you and ask how to do something. He has a good idea of how he wants to do things. I watched Marlon help Johnny with scenes. Johnny had a scene in which his eyes partially fill with tears, but not fully. Marlon said `That kid is great,' and their relationship was on.''
Depp said he modeled his overly romantic, Latino accent on Ricardo Montalban in ``Fantasy Island.'' ``I got tapes of the show and studied them,'' he said.
For a scene in which Don Juan invades a harem, Depp has to, again wear a dress; he donned an Angora sweater and skirt in ``Ed Wood.'' ``It's not a permanent trend,'' he laughed, ``but, to tell the truth, the dress was a lot more comfortable than the sweater.''
Born in Kentucky, Depp grew up in Southern Florida. He took another drag off his cigarette as he explained, ``I didn't even start acting until recently. I don't consider the TV series (``21 Jump Street'') had anything to do with acting.'' His movie debut was unpromising - ``A Nightmare on Elm Street.''
``I choose roles by instinct,'' he said. ``I know that people just want to escape for two hours. They don't want to think too much, but if you can sneak up on them, it'll work. This movie is just about a guy who is in love with love. That ought to work. What's to argue about there?'' MEMO: "DON JUAN DeMARCO" IS REVIEWED ON PAGE E6
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
NEW LINE CINEMA
Johnny Depp
Marlon Brando
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB