Johnny Depp is arguably the world's most popular film star, lauded by fans and critics alike. In the November issue of GQ Magazine, he talks about his love for partner Vanessa Paradis and their children, drugs, dealing with his level of fame and the moment he thought he thought he was going down with the plane. Below are some titbits:
On meeting Vanessa Paradis:
"I knew at that moment that I was done. It was like - OK - it's over [single life]."
On his children:
"It was having children that woke me up. To fall in love, to that degree... to fall in love with... these little angels. Who didn't ask to arrive, but who arrived anyway. That was just huge for me. It was like the uplifting of a veil. There was something that it gave me, for the very first time in my life... Clarity."
On being voted the sexiest man in the world for two out of the past nine years:
"You do have to laugh at some point. Imagine - someone votes you the sexiest man in the f***ing world? I feel like saying: What? What does that mean?"
On being him:
"It isn't very hard being me. It's very easy. It's the people around me who have to deal with all that. I mean... I don't misunderstand me. I feel lucky. I feel blessed to have experienced this road. The thing about [this level of fame] is that there is great potential for weirdness if you want it. But I don't want anything to do with that stuff. I can't bear it."
On drugs:
"When I was a kid, drugs were around. My parents went through a nasty divorce. That was just the direction I went in, for a while. I wouldn't say it was self-medicating. It never had anything to do with fun for me."
"I don't trust anyone who hasn't been self-destructive in some way. Who hasn't gone through some sort of bout of self-loathing. You've got to bang yourself around a bit to know yourself."
"We would put things in our bodies that were unfit to put into a f***ing auto-mobile. You know what I mean? You wouldn't put that stuff in a bad car."
On the moment his private jet lost power to all systems over the Pacific:
"There was a moment when I thought: Jesus Christ, we've had it. We were on a recce for Rum Diary in Mexico. And the plane just shuts down. Big time. All the lights go out. Then we go into a strange, uncontrolled descent. I looked at Bruce and said: 'Is this it?' And then we both burst out laughing, as we were plunging to what seemed to be our deaths. It felt so f***ing ludicrous it was hysterical. And so we lost it. Laughing our asses off as the plane was going down. .. [and then] everything kicked back in. We made it through."
You can read the interview in full in the December issue of GQ Magazine, on sale from 7 November.