Johnny Depp enjoys making the A list of movie acting but can't resist oddball roles. Steve Pratt reports.

HOLLYWOOD star Johnny Depp finds inspiration for his acting roles in the strangest places. It's no secret that there was more than a little of Rolling Stone Keith Richard in his portrayal of eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow in last summer's blockbuster The Pirates Of The Caribbean.

And a crazy secret agent character in Once Upon A Time In Mexico was based on a Hollywood sleazeball he once knew "who aimed to do you over but you almost didn't mind because he was so fascinating to watch".

The model for a dishevelled, reclusive writer in his last film, Secret Window, was equally odd - Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. "I remember those stories, or maybe myths, about his reclusive period when he didn't leave his house and had sand brought in to cover the living room floor," he says.

The movie, based on a Stephen King short story, finds Depp as Mort Rainey, a writer suffering from writer's block who's accused by a stranger who knocks at his door of pinching his story ideas.

"I liked the reclusive quality of this guy, a cynical guy who's probably too smart for his own good," says 40-year-old Depp, who dons glasses and copper-coloured long hair for the role.

He's currently in the Isle of Man playing another writer - decadent 17th century poet John Wilmot in The Libertine, being directed by John Malkovich. "I've always admired anyone who can bring their thoughts and emotions out on to a page. The printed page is a powerful thing," he says.

The spectacular success of The Pirates Of The Caribbean has finally put Depp on the Hollywood A-list. Before that, his choice of often offbeat movies had earned him respect, but not been big commercial successes.

"It was definitely outside the box, I've never experienced anything like that before," he says of Pirates, which earned him a best actor Oscar nomination.

"It's been fun to come back to Hollywood as a bankable actor for a change. But I've also been around long enough to know that one week you're on the exclusive list, then the next week you're off the list."

There was talk that he'd left America to live full-time in France with his actress wife, Vanessa Paradis, and their two children, Lilly Rose, four, and two-year-old Jack.

He denies the rumours, maintaining he still lives in Los Angeles as well as having a home in France. "I've always gone back and forth between the two," he says. "People think I've abandoned America and all that, and it's not the case at all."

Living in the South of France gives him a different sense of things. "It's wonderful living in a tiny village with nothing around. There is still the possibility to live a simple life, the things they did a hundred years ago."

Once reason for a home in France is that his children are half-French. He credits his daughter with his characterisation as Captain Jack Sparrow. "We have been watching every Disney animated film and as an actor I'm thinking, 'what freedom these characters have'. So going into Pirates my goal was to keep it in the arena of the cartoon but be believable in the arena of film."

He admits that having children is influencing his choice of projects, which include plans to play Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's new film of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. "I do select roles differently. I think I started making choices with regard to what I might be able to leave for my kids. Films that they would one day be proud of," he says.

* Secret Window (12A) opens in cinemas tomorrow.

Published: 29/04/2004